‘Jeopardy!’ Host Mayim Bialik Reveals She Has COVID-19

Mayim Bialik is recovering from COVID-19 after testing positive for the virus. The Jeopardy! host revealed in an Instagram Live video Sunday that the virus was “no joke” at her house as she experiences symptoms including exhaustion and tightness in her chest. “I have COVID, saying that, and it’s no joke over here,” she began.

Sharing some of the treatment recommendations she had gotten from friends, from taking zinc and vitamin C to drinking a concoction of lemon juice, ginger and turmeric, Bialik said it was “very, very exhausting” having the virus, comparing her energy depletion to having mononucleosis back when she was in college. “The exhaustion is very special,” she said, adding, “You cannot be awake. You can try to be awake but all of a sudden…you need to sleep.”

The Big Bang Theory star continued that she was “not at all trying to make light of any aspect” of COVID, noting that there are people who do not have the resources or care that she does amid the pandemic. Since testing positive, the actress and neuroscientist admitted she was “feeling a whole bunch of regret that I ever took my mask off ever in the world, like even outside.”

Despite being “pretty careful” as COVID numbers dropped, Bialik said she’s now “feeling a lot of fear,” asking, “Like why did I ever go out and why did I think that anything was fine, ever?” She continued, “I’m not gonna get political, not gonna do it. I’m just saying that’s been my experience. It is no joke.” The Call Me Kat star concluded, “I hope everybody stays safe. I’m going to drink this [home remedy] and then fall asleep. Take care of yourselves, and that’s it.”

Bialik previously clarified in October 2020 that despite writing in her 2012 parenting guide, Beyond the Sling, that she and ex Michael Stone had made the “informed decision not to vaccinate our children,” she was not anti-vaccine, and would be getting the COVID vaccine when it was available. “This year I’m gonna do something I literally haven’t done in 30 years,” she said in a video she shared. “I’m gonna get a vaccine. I know! And guess what? I’m actually gonna get two.”

“You might be saying, ‘Hey, wait a second, Dr. Mayim Bialik, you don’t believe in vaccines!” she continued. “You’re one of those ‘anti-vaxxers.’ I wrote a book about 10 years ago about my experience parenting, and at the time my children had not received the typical schedule of vaccines. But I have never, not once, said that vaccines are not valuable, not useful, or not necessary, because they are.”