Alpha, Delta and Omicron are COVID-19 variants broadcaster Lloyd Burr is all too familiar with - having caught all three.
Burr told The Project he caught each variant across a three-year period, most recently Omicron at the British music festival Glastonbury.
He said he first caught COVID-19 in 2020 in the UK when he was Newshub's Europe correspondent. At that point, the vaccine hadn't been developed.
"That was the worst out of the three times I reckon, there were lots of unknowns and you were in bed and you were sweating, and then you were cold and you were sweating,"
"It went on for about two weeks," he added.
The broadcaster said when the second round of infection hit the following year, he had only received a single dose of the vaccine.
"I was only floored for about five days for that one," said Burr, now a radio host on Today FM.
He said out of the three infections, the first was the worst, followed by the second and his most recent and third infection was the easiest.
Burr had a "whirlwind trip" to attend the Glastonbury music festival in the UK when he caught COVID-19 for the third time.
"I picked it up when I was at Glastonbury, luckily I was triple vaxxed… and I'd had it, it was probably the easiest out of the lot," he said.
And as infection rates pick up here in Aotearoa with the BA.5 Omicron variant taking hold, reinfection is in the front of Kiwi's minds.
Bur told The Project COVID-19 is an unlucky dip and you never know what kind of effect it will have on you.
"I'm always cautious, I'm not going to be one of those people who says, 'It is an absolute breeze and I've recovered from it,' because some people who get it get really sick and end up in [the] hospital, some people they end up dying."
He encouraged people to not treat COVID-19 lightly and continue to take it seriously.
Watch the full interview above.
