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Last month, I told you that my grandmother died of #COVID19. What I didn't tell you is that she also (unintentionally) infected my mother. My mother had already had covid back in May. Back then, she was very sick for a month and it took her another month to recover. 1/
By the time she got sick with #COVID19 again in December, the second infection was—as the available scientific literature on second infections predicted—more severe than the first. Far more severe. 2/
There was a good week when I was convinced that I would lose both my mom and grandmother to #COVID19 at the same time. My grandmother didn't make it, but luckily my mom did, saved with an infusion of monoclonal antibodies (which Baltimore has done a great job of distributing). 3/
My mother is a physician and has been ultra careful. She was trying to not infect my grandmother, who had just been diagnosed with a massive brain tumor, but for some reason didn't imagine that my grandmother could get *her* sick. After all, she had already had #COVID19. 4/
And yet. My mother's primary care physician thinks that the infection she had in the spring, after which she did not test positive for antibodies, gave her some immunity but not enough to last 7 months. After 7 months, she was exposed and got sick again. 5/
This is just my family's story, one small anecdote to add to the pile of the horrible stories coming out of this pandemic. But it shows, yet again, that the science is right: re-infection with #COVID19 is possible and it is usually more severe than the first go-around. 6/
It also shows that, as per the science, naturally acquired immunity is limited and not as strong as the kind generated by a vaccine. So just because you've had #COVID19, doesn't mean you're protected forever. You can get it again, and if you do, it will likely be more severe. 7/
Everyone will make their own decisions on how to live their lives, whether to travel or not, and I know that there are few good decisions to be made right now. I also know that people will rationalize anything in order to do what they already want to do. 8/
I share my mom's story—with her permission—in the hope of just giving you just a moment's pause, a glimpse of something else to consider. Because no one thinks it can happen to them, until it does. Be careful out there, if not for others then for yourself. /end
P.S. I just want to add: reinfection is rare and still not fully understood, in part because this virus is still so new. That said, rare does not mean impossible, rare does not mean it can't happen to you. Be careful, follow the rules, get the vaccine.
