I Finally Got Covid-19 in 2022

By the title, I don’t mean to imply that I’ve spent the last 2 years trying to get Covid. While I haven’t locked myself away in a cave, I have tried to take reasonable precautions and whenever I thought I was exposed, begun early treatment protocols (I’ll explain this more below). Instead, what I mean is that way back in February of 2020, when my kids were asking about whether or not the Covid-19 pandemic would interfere with their upcoming trips abroad, I found an article that seemed a very helpful and rational as it presented a few statements from leading experts in the field. I couldn’t answer their question about their trips authoritatively, but the message of the article is summed up in the title: “You’re Likely to Get the Coronavirus”. From this article, dated Feb. 24 2020, I learned the following:

1. There are 4 coronaviruses which are common in humans and they are what cause colds. They evolve to “maximize their own spread — which means sickening, but not killing, people.”
2. When Coronaviruses jump from animals to humans, they can be much more deadly, such as SARS and MERS. The more deadly they are, the greater tendency they will die out without spreading far and wide.
3. SARS-CoV-2 was not as deadly, which is why it was more likely to spread, and why the author proclaimed us likely to get it eventually.
4. A Harvard epidemiologist stated, “I think the likely outcome is that it will ultimately not be containable.” He predicted that “within the coming year, some 40 to 70 percent of people around the world will be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19.”
5. He expected that “many will have mild disease, or may be asymptomatic.”
6. The belief from a consensus of epidemiologists was “the most likely outcome of this outbreak is a new seasonal disease — a fifth “endemic” coronavirus. With the other four, people are not known to develop long-lasting immunity. If this one follows suit, and if the disease continues to be as severe as it is now, “cold and flu season” could become “cold and flu and COVID-19 season.”
7. “Vaccines require a long testing process to see whether they indeed protect people from disease, and do so safely.”
8. The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness (CEPI) CEO guessed that “ it would be 12 to 18 months before an initial product could be deemed safe and effective. That timeline represents “a vast acceleration compared with the history of vaccine development.”
9. A public health expert stated, “If we’re putting all our hopes in a vaccine as being the answer, we’re in trouble.”

The author concluded with the following summary statement:

“Many countries have responded with containment attempts, despite the dubious efficacy and inherent harms of China’s historically unprecedented crackdown. Certain containment measures will be appropriate, but widely banning travel, closing down cities, and hoarding resources are not realistic solutions for an outbreak that lasts years. All of these measures come with risks of their own. Ultimately some pandemic responses will require opening borders, not closing them. At some point the expectation that any area will escape effects of COVID-19 must be abandoned: The disease must be seen as everyone’s problem.”

As you all know, the last statement may have been the most true statement of the article. It was soon everyone’s problem and the entire world has been impacted by it. As we moved to March, plans that our family had for travel were cancelled, our 2 University-age kids were sent home to stay with us (putting the 5 of us in a small 2 bedroom apartment for the next few months), and ultimately, in spite of the warnings about the potential harm of the decision, the entire world seemed to go into lockdown. Thus, our family joined hundreds of millions around the world who completely changed our lives and plans and began figuring out the best way to deal with the challenges of both the virus and the restrictions that were placed upon us.

This was usually justified based on China’s response paired with some of the devastating numbers that were seen coming first out of Italy and Spain and later in what happened in New York. Perhaps the most influential resource were models created by the Imperial College, authored in March of 2020, which ignored some of the data that was available at that time. These made dire predictions of 2 million deaths in the US during the first year if the mitigations were not adopted. The lockdowns were adopted in spite of the potential harms that might come from them. We’ll probably never know how many lives were lost globally from these policies.

Like many of you, I was disturbed by some of the conspiracy theories that were being spread on social media regarding the Covid-19 pandemic. Concern over this trend led me to write an article in May of 2020, challenging Christians to act with integrity with what they shared online. In an age when truth is sometimes hard to find, it was worth taking the time to find out the truth behind what we shared. In order to be true to my own words, I began to research the disease with a renewed interest.

One of the first things that became obvious was that Covid-19 cases were all over the map in severity. Many contracted the virus, but thankfully relatively few became severely ill and even fewer lost their lives from the virus. Two conditions were identified in cases that became serious, Covid-19 leading to pneumonia and a cytokine storm, where your immune system itself wreaks havoc. What was the difference between a mild case and one that led to one of these severe outcomes? In the summer of 2020, most people didn’t know for sure, but one of the most hopeful signs was in the repurposing of drugs for early treatment. Vaccines, if they were coming, were still a long time away and many doctors, researchers and scientists wanted to find effective treatments ASAP.

Promising early results came out of France and caused some foolish politicians to promote them as a miracle cure. Long term studies would prove the value of the treatments, but unfortunately, Covid-19 treatments were starting to become politicized. This problem would stay with us until this day. For whatever reason, some of the most effective early treatment protocols would be deemed unsuitable or ignored and most hospitals and doctors would continue to send people home without early treatment. Telling people not to return to the hospital until they were more ill, or had trouble breathing.

Sadly, this would impact our family deeply on a personal level when our uncle would contact the disease in August of 2020 and would lose his fight in September. Like many, he was not prescribed early treatment by his doctors, but was sent home and only admitted when he was much more ill and had to be placed on a ventilator. This story was repeated by many and remarkably, there are still places today where early treatment is ignored. I’ve heard testimonies even in the last month of people being told to go home and sleep it off and only to call if they have trouble breathing.

After the loss of my uncle, I lost my interest in researching Covid for a time, but continued to follow the studies on early treatment. I came across some information regarding over the counter vitamins and supplements that mimicked one of the treatment protocols being used by some of the researchers. So, In August of 2020, I purchased a supply of the following to have in our house at all times:

• Quercetin 1000mg
• Zinc with Vitamin C & B Complex 50mg
• Vitamin D3mg

From August of 2020 until today, whenever I thought I might have been exposed to the virus, I would start to take these supplements daily. For the most part, from June of 2020 until the beginning of 2022, we have lived our lives normally, going about our lives without too much extra regard for Covid-19. From everything that I had read, my health profile put me at minimal risk for a serious case of the virus, especially if I followed early treatment protocols and most of my precautions were taken because of a fear of potentially transmitting it to a higher risk loved one.

Because of this, for the last year and a half, we have only worn masks when required to by others, or requested to by others. We have traveled to towns where no one was wearing a mask and we have visited cities where they were required at all times indoors. Based on everything I have read, the masks that most people use (including ourselves) provide no protective benefit from the virus. There is some data that seems to indicate a positive benefit related to reducing transmission from an infected person. Here is an excellent summary. Because of this, our family has lived almost the entire pandemic mask-free. With the exception of our airline travel overseas, the longest we have worn them is attending hour long meetings that required them. In an average week, we have usually been masked less than 2 hours of that week.

As 2020 drew to a close, it became obvious that vaccines would soon be in use. Operation Warpspeed had exceeded all expectations and those at highest risk from the virus would soon have an additional layer of protection. There are many other questions that could be addressed, but I want to spend a few paragraphs discussing the vaccines.

Vaccine distribution was prioritized according to risk assessment in the beginning, at least in wealthy, developed nations. One of the few times any kind of real cost benefit analysis was applied throughout the entire pandemic. The vaccines were seen as excellent news and the achievement was celebrated far and wide. Millions of high risk candidates and others would be able to benefit from the Emergency Use Authorization that was granted to several vaccines, including those developed using MRNA technology. Some individuals and groups were not excited. They pointed to ethical concerns with the development of the vaccine. Everyone would have to make the choice for themselves with their doctor whether it was the right choice for them to get the vaccine.

Except that wasn’t the case. One of the first new policies discussed by the new US Administration was the feasibility of the idea of vaccine passports. At first, this was discussed as nothing more than a convenience, nothing more than a digital version of what exists on paper, but as time went on, the idea of requiring vaccination began to spread. This was tied to promises that the vaccine prevented transmission and that if people were vaccinated, they would be able to go back to living their lives, without restrictions.

Personally, the literature seemed to promote the benefit of vaccination for high risk populations from the very beginning, but the benefit for anyone under 60 with no serious health issues was negligible. Because of this, our family would not have seen the need to be vaccinated, were it not for a lifestyle built around international travel. We knew we would most likely need to be vaccinated at some point, and that it might be required of us, but we wanted to delay it as long as possible to examine longer term studies and see what potential alternative vaccines came to market.

We moved back overseas at the beginning of 2021 and changing countries required us to have a negative test and quarantine for 10 days on arrival. This would be the first of many tests we would have, all negative until recently. We went from an environment in the Midwest that was very relaxed in restrictions to one where we were again required to wear a mask whenever we entered a building. Still, like most places where restrictions were in place, the enforcement varied greatly depending on where you went.

By the summer of 2021, our country began to talk about vaccine requirements and our company had notified us that we would need to be vaccinated in the near future. In August, they began requiring antigen tests for every gathering, including church and would soon be making everyone pay for their own tests, if they weren’t vaccinated. Some US states began to pass legislation, outlawing vaccine passports as countries around the world began to consider using them.

Just as a type of vaccine passport was being rolled out where we lived, a new version of the Pfizer vaccine was deemed to receive full FDA approval, just in time for the government to announce federal mandates. These mandates are still being challenged to this time and to date, and the FDA approved Pfizer Comirnaty shot has still not been widely distributed. The timing of this was important, as the dictates of EUA make it clear that the administration under those guidelines must be optional. Summer also brought the first widespread concerns over myocarditis reports from previously young, healthy people who had received MRNA vaccines. With the spread of the Delta variant, especially in areas with high vaccination, such as Israel, there was also a growing concern that vaccination did little to prevent transmission, even though it did still seem to help with severity of infection.

All of these things would seem to put the validity of vaccine passports in doubt, but most countries moved ahead. Some provided an option for testing, and most countries made some allowance for post-infection immunity, but various levels of mandates were slowly rolling out around the globe. The US seemed to completely ignore the possibility of post infection immunity, despite it having shown to be strong in studies as early of the summer of 2020. This would persist through the end of 2021. Some companies would completely ignore the possibility of prior infection immunity, even firing health care workers who had become infected during their pandemic service.

Our family, having evaluated the options before us, chose to take the Chinese-produced Coronavac vaccine. This was a more traditionally developed vaccine. It was seen as less effective, but the potential for adverse vaccine reactions were also much lower. My wife and I both received 2 shots. Our son, who was still in the US, took the J&J shot. The issues associated with it seemed to be lesser for young men than the potential side effects of the other popular vaccines. All things being equal, we would have avoided any of these shots if we could have, due to each or our individual risk profiles.

All said, over the course of about a year and a half, it seemed like we might have been exposed to Covid at one time or another 3–5 times. During those times, as stated above, we had taken the vitamin cocktail until we were certain that we weren’t ill. After we moved overseas, this became easier because of the regular testing we experienced. Then came Omicron.

As you probably know by now Omicron is highly transmissible, but usually milder than previous variants. The cases around the world have taken off like a rocket. In the last month, I have known as many people who have tested positive in my immediate circles as I had in the previous year combined. More than 70% of those I know who tested positive were vaccinated, which includes myself.

I was exposed 2 weeks ago, and tested negative 4 days after exposure. 8 days after exposure, I had a slight achy feeling. After 2 days, I decided to get tested again. The morning I was tested, I didn’t ache anymore, but did have a bit of a runny nose. I tested positive with the antigen test and had to get a PCR test to confirm. This was positive and I was told to quarantine at my house. 3 days later, they asked me to come to the testing center to be fitted with a tracking bracelet, in order to make sure I was following the home quarantine procedures. I now have absolutely no symptoms, feel 100% and should get my bracelet off in 2 days, assuming I test negative on that day. No one else in my family caught it. In addition to my regime of Quercetin, Zinc, and Vitamin D, I added a few other over the counter medicines that were recommended. You can see them listed below.

So that is it. 23 months ago, I read an article saying that I would get Covid-19 and that it would most likely be mild. 23 months later, that is my Covid-19 experience. Now, I should have natural immunity, on top of whatever immunity the vaccines I took granted me, but I go forward knowing that the US is still not acknowledging its value.

At the end of this pandemic, whenever that is, I believe most of us will look back honestly at the mistakes made. This pandemic was a horrible thing. Everyone has been impacted by it. We all have losses we can count up over the last 2 years, but if we are being honest, I believe we have to admit that for reasons that we may never know, whether it is power, money, control or other reasons, we have been used and abused by the powers that be and much of what has been communicated with us between March of 2020 and the present day has not been in our best interest. My advice to you today and every day going forward is this:

1. Don’t believe everything you hear/read
2. If something sound fishy, it is worth checking out
3. If you get Covid, or think you get Covid, start treatment immediately
4. Life a healthier lifestyle, which is the greatest thing you can do to prevent serious disease
5. Don’t ever, ever put your hope and trust in the government, instead place it in God. He is the only one who will never let you down.