Many people living with HIV are wondering whether the vaccines are appropriate for them and where they will end up in the queue.
Reassuringly, current evidence indicates that vaccination is safe for this population.
As the first COVID-19 vaccines are rolled out around the world, HIV/AIDS experts and advocates have sought to reassure HIV patients that they can safely receive the coronavirus vaccination.
In some countries, HIV and AIDS-positive people have been considered a part of the high-priority patient group and allow them to receive alongside the most at-risk groups – the elderly and frontline healthcare workers – have received their shots.
Germany, for example, has been including HIV-positive people in a third tier of priority patients – along with the over-60s, people with conditions such as heart, kidney, and liver disease, and those working in key sectors like education.
In Britain, on the other hand, will be including HIV patients in the sixth priority group for vaccination, after those aged 65 and over, healthcare workers and people with more severe health conditions.
One health researcher stated in an interview with POZ.com “There is no reason to believe that people with HIV should not get the vaccine. It is not a live vaccine, and it is safe and efficacious across diverse groups,” Monica Gandhi, MD, MPH, medical director of the Ward 86 HIV clinic at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, told POZ. “I will be encouraging my patients with HIV, especially those on antiretroviral therapy, to get the vaccine. I totally recommend it.”
Now, our country is rolling out vaccinations on a wider scale.