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Comment by clpm4j | Hacker News Reader

I recently got Covid. My original vaccine was in April 2021, shot #2 in May 2021, and booster in December 2021. It really knocked me out for a solid week + persistent symptoms and very annoying cough for another two weeks. I would happily take another booster shot but apparently I'm not eligible yet (in California). Shame to hear that some doses are being thrown away - I'd take a shot every other month if it would prevent me from getting Covid again.

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I know a dozen people that have had it in the last month, including my whole family, and everyone's symptoms were mild, less than the flu. Not trying to discredit, just wanted to share other points of view.

It seems to manifest in all kinds of ways. I got it a month ago (double boosted) and it was the worst illness I'd had since a big flu bout ca. 1990. Not fun. My symptoms were clinically mild, but were total ass-kickers.

That's what I was expecting. Makes me think I might've caught one of the new variants. I'm quite fit and healthy, so I don't think it's a matter of weak immune system.

Seems like repeated boosters increase your chances of getting Covid. Weakens the immune system.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-01-11/repeat-bo...

Raw data from the UK seems to support this. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsde...

What stops someone from going somewhere and just pretending they're unvaccinated and getting a shot? I was under the impression that a booster was just another dose.

> What stops someone from going somewhere and just pretending they're unvaccinated and getting a shot? I was under the impression that a booster was just another dose.

I don't know if they'd actually check it, but most (all?) US states have vaccine databases, and I assume COVID vaccinations would be entered into it.

I was shocked when I got a new doctor that he had all my vaccine records going back years. Things like flu shots and tetanus boosters that I didn't tell anyone about except the pharmacy and my insurance company.

Back in the day, your health record was like a criminal record. If it got a black mark, you couldn't buy insurance any longer. I hope we never go back to that.

> Back in the day, your health record was like a criminal record. If it got a black mark, you couldn't buy insurance any longer. I hope we never go back to that.

I'm honestly confused how this comment flowed from mine. Getting a vaccine isn't a health problem. These databases make it much easier to get your vaccination records, since you don't have to track down records from every health provider you may have visited (including ones from before you could talk).

I was speaking of general medical privacy, of which vaccines are a part. But I don't care if insurers know my vaccination history.

First Omicron infection is like a bad flu even after shots and older variants, but immune system does wise up to the virus with repeated exposures.

Not entirely the case, BA2.4 and .5 are exhibiting immune escape. And wait till you hear about BA2.75 that’s going to be a wild ride

Immune escape is not a binary. Natural infection produces t-cells trained on every viral protein rather than just ones on the surface, they don't prevent infections but get them under control. In the meantime memory b-cells accumulate and diversify with every exposure. Vaccine kick start was sure helpful, but natural adaptive immunity is not easy to outsmart.

Also, it's inevitable that the virus will adapt our best antiviral, Paxovid.

https://www.science.org/content/article/bad-news-paxlovid-co...

> immune system does wise up to the virus with repeated exposures.

“Repeatedly catching Covid-19 appears to increase the chances that a person will face new and sometimes lasting health problems after their infection, according to the first study on the health risks of reinfection.”

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/05/health/covid-reinfection-risk...

Repeatedly catching Covid-19 at severity enough to prompt one to get tested / seek medical attention is a sign of poor health in itself?

The article mentions that, as well as points out that the material it is based on is not peer reviewed.

> The article mentions that, as well as points out that the material it is based on is not peer reviewed.

The article says that even when controlling for prior existing conditions, age, sex, etc, that outcomes are still statistically worse with each infection. The material is also preprint and will be undergoing peer review.

People test for a lot of reasons (for ex: their employer requires routine screening, or they are going to be proximate with immunocompromised people, etc.). Testing positive is not an indicator of poor health.

"increase the chances"?

More likely these people always had a less-effective immune system, which is why they catch Covid repeatedly.

Classic correlation mixup of attributing cause to the result.

Unfortunately the evidence is that prior omicron infection does not prevent BA.4 and BA.5 infection.

Which to be honest is the wrong metric to look at. The right metric is whether you get sick from it. If previous infections or vaccinations downgrade the virus to just a cold, then it’s good enough. Clearly we have no mean to stop this virus, not even slow it down. But if it is mostly harmless, is that really a problem?

Nothing prevents infections anymore, just infections getting out of control. The later part is a huge silver lining.

Infections are bad because the virus transmits. The virus is capable of mutating to evade the immune response. Future variants may also attack different body systems. For example, it looks like BA.5 reverts back to the lungs vs the original omicron variant.

Also, it is quite unfortunate that we now have evidence that multiple acute covid infections may cause long lasting health problems.

Interesting attitude, and I wonder how much you've been affected by the pro-vaccine fervor over the last few years. Vaccines are still a risky product; your immune system is a highly complex, tightly calibrated system, and every vaccine has a small probability of throwing that system out of order. New research is coming out to show that horrific chronic illnesses like post-viral syndrome and long covid are caused by autoantibodies--antibodies that attack healthy cells. There's a good reason why we're not recommended monthly vaccine doses, and it doesn't just have to do with the cost.

Flagging this comment is also pretty ridiculous. Here's the source. https://www.science.org/content/article/rare-cases-coronavir...

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