SHOTS HEARD ROUND THE WORLD HOW THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IS HELPING DEVELOP AN HIV VACCINE By
Marissa McCollum Areeha Khalid
While HIV has been a constant threat for over three decades, COVID-19 has surpassed its estimated death toll—700,000 people in the U.S.—in under two years. This does not mean, however, that COVID-19 will likewise go untreated. There are multiple vaccines already authorized by the FDA, and the efficacy of both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines is consistently rated above 88% against the alpha strain. With 66% of the U.S. population at least partially vaccinated, COVID-19 appears to have a much shorter historical period of unchecked infection than HIV. Even more optimistically, some new research is working toward a preventative immunization against HIV using the same mRNA technology responsible for the success of some of the COVID-19 vaccines. First clinically identified in
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1982, AIDS is one of the most well-known epidemics of the modern age. AIDS, or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, strips the body’s natural immune system, leaving patients susceptible to illness or death from even minor infections. The pathogen behind this disease, HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) has infected over 1.1 million people in the United States as of 2019. Despite the prolific nature of the disease, the CDC estimates that around 15% of those infected are unaware and therefore liable to unknowingly spread HIV to others. AIDS has no cure, only treatments to mitigate symptoms and reduce communicability. Current trials are not the first attempts to curb HIV transmission. The first treatments used for HIV were direct acting dideoxynucleoside reverse transcriptase
inhibitors (NRTIs), a class of drugs that prevent the virus from inserting its own genome into host cells, the means by which HIV reproduces within an infected body. HIV is comparatively difficult to completely eliminate after infection has set in, as it produces latent “reservoirs” which allow the virus to persist through attempts to eradicate the active infection. However, current antiretroviral therapy has lowered the mortality of HIV to close to zero when treated quickly and adequately. Preventative measures also exist, such as preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a daily medication for high-risk populations, such as men and transgender women who have sex with men, or injection drug users. Despite these improvements, a single-dose prevention remains elusive. Even a vaccine efficacy as low as
