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Getting Covid

Recently, a colleague who I share an office with in clinic, and had the prior day, informed me that he had tested positive, was no longer a Novid. Early the next morning, I had a mild sore throat so I knew I’d finally been hit. I tested positive and started a prescription for Paxlovid soon thereafter. I had 2 days of marked fatigue, but was otherwise unaffected. Like most of you who have taken it, Paxlovid induced a bad metallic taste, but fortunately I didn’t experience other side effects. I tested negative for 2 days consecutively before ending isolation. While I normally exercise nearly every day, I put that on hold for 10 days. I had considered also taking metformin because of the randomized trial showing it can help prevent Long Covid, but there aren’t any data yet that have assessed the combination of paxlovid and metformin.

I consider myself extremely lucky compared with the experience of so many other friends, family members, colleagues and patients, particularly those at more advanced ages. Along the long course of the pandemic I had so many people write to me (or post on social media) about its inevitability and that I should just move on in life, stop masking, and don’t worry about it—”you’re not going to die.” I never agreed with that outlook, since we’ve made steady improvements throughout the pandemic in preventing severe Covid and Long Covid, such that the longer an infection can be delayed, the better. Of course, I’d much prefer to never have Covid, but there’s only so much one can do to prevent that from happening.

I had received the XBB.1.5 booster in late September, but still got infected 6-7 weeks later. That’s not at all surprising, since the booster doesn’t do much against infection, especially after the first month, and at peak might suppress infection by only 30-40%. But it does markedly amp up neutralizing antibodies (and T cell response) and certainly would be expected to help prevent severe Covid.