This past summer, I came down with my third case of COVID-19, only eighteen days after my second. Once I updated colleagues and a few close contacts, I shared the news on Twitter, illustrating what I’d learned—that recent illness is currently no guarantee of future immunity and that both infections followed my participation at unmasked gatherings (part of the widespread reopening of Ontario, where I live). The post was unexpectedly controversial, garnering thousands of replies over the next few days.
As is often the case when you talk about COVID-19, the responses reflected a range of perspectives. There were people who had barely felt safe leaving the house over the past couple of years, people ready to move on from COVID-19, and even people who think the pandemic is a hoax. One guy, who claimed he was double vaxed and had spent his summer maskless at large events, including a BC Lions game, said he got the coronavirus only once and didn’t see what the fuss was about. I was tempted to congratulate him on his summer, which sounded a lot more fun than mine, and (perhaps futilely) to encourage him to get that first booster shot more than half of Canadians have yet to receive.
