> Odds are that you have caught a couple strains of post-2018 COVID, even if you’ve never been sick. We didn't have a case until intentionally opening border r

> Odds are that you have caught a couple strains of post-2018 COVID, even if you’ve never been sick. We didn't have a case until intentionally opening border restrictions once vaccines had been distributed, and once we did we were masking long after people forgot about them in the US, so my window to get infected has been quite a bit shorter than most. I don't think I would have been exposed to Delta or earlier dominant strains at all, but it's true I could have had a silent Omicron infection. Asymptomatic infection is kind of a moot point though because it isn't going to generate the robust immune response of a 'real' infection, my point being since I don't have the well rounded immunity conferred by infection + vaccination I have plenty to gain from continuing to boost (not that infection obviates the need for boosters to maintain immunity after a few months). Btw, no, you do not hang on to persistent SARS-CoV-2 infection and spread it for life unless you are severely immunocompromised.