COVID-19 Severity is Independently Linked to HIV

Abstract

The international community must also do a lot more to get COVID-19 vaccinations to countries with high HIV and other illness prevalence. It is unacceptable that just about 3% of the African continent has received a single dose of the vaccine and less than 1.5% has received both doses as of today. Most analyses have been conducted on relatively small cohorts of individuals in specific settings, and the impact of HIV infection on the severity and mortality of COVID-19 has been limited and occasionally contradictory. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have issued health alerts and prevention instructions for those who are at a higher risk of serious health consequences and death as a result of COVID-19. These recommendations are based on the outcomes and characteristics of patients who were infected early in the COVID-19 epidemic. Emerging trends point to an increased risk for older people, people in longterm care facilities, men, and racial/ethnic minorities, who have historically faced health disparities for many chronic diseases.