COVID-19 vaccination and HIV transmission among persons who inject drugs during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City.
Harm Reduct J
; 20(1): 63, 2023 05 03.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2314083
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
To examine COVID-19 vaccination and HIV transmission among persons who inject drugs (PWID) during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2022) in New York City (NYC).METHODS:
Two hundred and seventy five PWID were recruited from October 2021 to September 2022. A structured questionnaire was used to measure demographics, drug use behaviors, overdose experiences, substance use treatment history, COVID-19 infection, vaccination, and attitudes. Serum samples were collected for HIV, HCV, and SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) antibody testing.RESULTS:
Participants were 71% male, the mean age was 49 (SD 11), 81% reported at least one COVID-19 immunization, 76% were fully vaccinated and 64% of the unvaccinated had antibodies for COVID-19. Self-reported injection risk behaviors were very low. HIV seroprevalence was 7%. Eighty-nine percent of the HIV seropositive respondents reported knowing they were HIV seropositive and being on antiretroviral therapy prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. There were two likely seroconversions in 518.83 person-years at risk from the March 2020 start of the pandemic to the times of interviews, for an estimated incidence rate of 0.39/100 person-years, 95% Poisson CI 0.05-1.39/100 person-years.CONCLUSIONS:
There is concern that the COVID-19 pandemic disruptions to HIV prevention services and the psychological stress of the pandemic may lead to increased risk behavior and increased HIV transmission. These data indicate adaptive/resilient behaviors in both obtaining COVID-19 vaccination and maintaining a low rate of HIV transmission among this sample of PWID during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic in NYC.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
HIV Infections
/
Substance Abuse, Intravenous
/
Substance-Related Disorders
/
Drug Users
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
Topics:
Vaccines
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Country/Region as subject:
North America
Language:
English
Journal:
Harm Reduct J
Year:
2023
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S12954-023-00791-0
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