New rules in the U.K. will reportedly make it easier for people with HIV to obtain a COVID vaccine.
The recently implemented rule change is aimed at individuals who are not comfortable sharing their HIV status with their primary care physician. Under previous guidelines, people living with HIV were expected to make arrangements through their general care practitioner. That could have put some people at risk of having to choose between outing themselves to providers who may not be affirming of their identities and avoiding vaccination.
According to the BBC, around 20% of people living with HIV in the U.K. have not disclosed their status to their doctor due to “sensitivities and stigma.”
With this change, HIV/AIDS clinics will now be able to refer people for COVID-19 vaccination without involving a primary care doctor first. Patients will need to contact a clinic and ask to be placed on a hospital wait list.
Dr. Michael Brady, NHS England National Advisor for LGBT Health, said the rule change acknowledges that some people are not in situations where they feel comfortable or safe sharing their status. “I encourage everyone living with HIV to register with a GP and make them aware of their HIV diagnosis so they get the best possible health care and access to the life-saving Covid vaccine,” Brady added in a statement cited by the U.K. LGBTQ+ news outlet Gay Times.
Pfizer recently claimed in patient information pamphlets that people with HIV should tell their doctor before receiving a dose, but the British HIV Association challenged that advice as not grounded in science. The group noted that there is no evidence of heightened side effects for people with HIV, and there is no known interaction between HIV medication and the vaccine.
It’s estimated that there are around 100,000 people living with HIV in the U.K., and due to fears that this population is at a higher risk if they contract the COVID-19, they have priority for receiving the vaccine. Given the potential harms, Ian Green, chief executive at Terrence Higgins Trust told members of the media that the U.K. government “cannot let HIV stigma stand in the way of people living with HIV getting access to the potentially life-saving COVID vaccine.”
The rule change follows a similar decision in Wales last week, which allowed HIV clinics to refer patients without consulting their doctor. Advocates are now turning their attention to Scotland and Northern Ireland, where similar rules have yet to be declared.
The U.K. was the first country in the world to approve a vaccine for the novel coronavirus and started its rollout in early December. Hospitals began administering a second vaccine in January, with a third one expected later this spring. According to the BBC, an estimated 16 million people have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
Get the best of what’s queer. Sign up for them.’s weekly newsletter here.
