Earlier today, I took a Covid antigen rapid test. It came back negative. This suggests that I have beaten Covid, with thanks to vaccines for making this very mild and of short duration.
I am not going to discontinue protecting my housemates from possible infection. I am still masking and self isolating. I wash my hands regularly. Unlike so many US residents, I believe that this pandemic is significant and should be treated as such. I will test again after 48 hours. If that comes back negative, then I will consider myself safe from spreading it. I have no clue how I got it this time.
Note that I said “this time.” I’ve had it twice before, I believe. Testing at home wasn’t possible back in 2021, and I had no car or driver to take me to the drive-through testing locations. So I have no prior confirmed cases. The episode in July 2021 was either severe pneumonia, or Covid and mild pneumonia. I do have scar tissue in my lungs to support my supposition. I was vaccinated then too. I am quite certain that an anti-vaccine, anti-mask Lyft driver was the source of my illness that first time.
There is really no excuse for a thinking person to avoid vaccinations. As I wrote back in July 2021:
If you won’t do it for yourself, do it for the children in your life too young to be vaccinated, the immunocompromised for whom the vaccine does little, the elderly, and those with comorbidities.
This time, I was diagnosed on Wednesday after feeling first symptoms the prior day. It’s now Saturday, and I am testing negative. Now to be clear, I am extremely tired. Exhausted even. I’ve slept a lot during the day today. It will likely be a few more days before I feel like I am back to my normal.But at my age, with my health issues, failing to be vaccinated would very likely have ended with my hospitalization, at a minimum. Instead though, I had an illness that was equivalent in severity to a mild chest cold.
The journey continues. I’m extremely happy to be able to continue my journey, with only mild inconvenience from that virus. Please, give yourself the same advantage I had. Get vaccinated.
An Aging Trans Woman 
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