I know somebody who got it december and again in june, both involved brief hospital stays. The fact is everybody’s antibodies are different. Some folks generate a lot of antibodies for a long time, some produce a little, some produce for only a short time. How often do you get sick? That’ll tell you most of what you need to know. If you catch every cold that cruises through your office you probably don’t make a lot of antibodies and/or don’t make them for long. If you can’t remember your last cold you don’t get a second round of anything.
You are exactly right. I got it the first time in March 2020 after a 3 day layover in Guangzhou China. Came home and gave it to my wife. It took us about 2 months to get over the severe fatigue. My son got it from us when he came home from college shortly after I returned. He had the worst symptoms but the fastest recovery. None of us could get tested because none of us needed hospitalization and that was the requirement to be tested at the time. My son did get tested for everything else they could test him for including flu, mono, etc. All negative.
I got it the second time this April after a layover in England. The Indian variant was just starting there. Again, brought it home and gave it to my wife. This time was almost nothing except we lost our taste and smell for about a week. We both tested positive. 4 weeks later she tested positive for antibodies. I was negative. So I took a Tcell test. I was positive on that. Doctors I spoke with said because of my first exposure, my body fought off the second exposure easily and I probably hardly generated any antibodies at all. My long term immunity (t cell) took care of it quickly and effectively. Aside from losing taste and smell both my wife and I were nearly symptom free the second time around.
I fly internationally for a cargo company. Last week I was in Japan, China, Singapore and Australia. I get tested several times a month to comply with various national laws. I probably also get exposed to COVID several times a month. I don’t worry about it at all anymore. I’d rather have it than a bad cold. I stay fit and take lots of vitamin C and D. I haven’t been vaccinated and I will not get vaccinated until I absolutely have to. At some point, like the flu or the common cold, everyone will get COVID. Like the flu, it will kill a small percent of the people who get it. The rest of us will be a little inconvenienced and move on.