The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted persons with HIV interfering with critical health services for HIV prevention, treatment, and care. While there are multiple profiles of persons living with HIV and the impact of COVID-19 may differ for each, the severity of COVID-19 disease in persons with HIV is related strongly to the presence of comorbidities that increase the risk of severe disease in COVID-19 patients in the absence of HIV. An effective response to the juxtaposition of the HIV and COVID-19 pandemics requires a novel coordinated and collaborative global effort of scientists, industry, and community partners to accelerate basic and clinical research, as well as implementation science to operationalize evidence-based interventions expeditiously in real-world settings. The accelerated development and clinical evaluation of prevention and treatment countermeasures is urgently needed to mitigate the juxtaposition of the HIV and COVID-19 pandemics.
HIV/AIDS in the Era of COVID-19: A Juxtaposition of Two Pandemics