CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — The COVID-19 omicron variant continues to spread like wildfire through Georgia and unfortunately, it caught up to Clayton County 8th grader Judah Whaley and his family.
11Alive has been following Whaley's journey through the 2021-22 school year as a part of a series called The Learning Curve.
The 14-year-old says his family recently recovered from COVID.
"Me and my brother both felt kind of sick, we had some minor symptoms and then my parents both tested positive for COVID," he said. "I did like end up losing my taste and a little bit of my smell."
Luckily, he was already quarantined at home. Clayton County Schools started the semester virtually because of the recent surge of COVID-19 cases.
"It was crazy how things could change that quickly," he said. "But it just goes to show how quickly COVID can take effect."
Judah’s whole family is vaccinated. His parents were recently boosted.
"Neither had any symptoms, and I think the vaccine might have played a big part in that," Whaley said. "I wasn't scared at all, really, because I had faith in the vaccine. We had very minor symptoms and we were quickly back to normal. If we weren't vaccinated, who knows what could have happened."
The whole family has now recovered.
Whaley said he's ready to get back to school and continue to power through this year of unknowns.
"No one's left with any symptoms or any permanent side effects, anything like that," he said. "It's definitely an experience and a part of history. And you can definitely learn from it."