This is a summary, written by members of the CITF Secretariat, of:

Chambers C, Samji H, Cooper CL, Costiniuk CT, Janjua NZ, Kroch AE, Arbess G, Benoit AC, Buchan SA, Chung H, Kendall CE, Kwong JC, Langlois MA, Lee SM, Mbuagbaw L, Mccullagh J, Moineddin R, Nambiar D, Walmsley S, Anis A, Burchell AN; COVAXHIV Study Team. COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness among a Population-based Cohort of People Living with HIV. AIDS. 2022 Oct 19. doi: 10.1097/QAD.0000000000003405.

The results and/or conclusions contained in the research do not necessarily reflect the views of all CITF members.

A CITF-funded study published in AIDS and led by Drs. Aslam Anis (University of British Columbia) and Ann Burchell (University of Toronto) on behalf of the COVAXHIV study team, highlighted that – prior to Omicron – two doses of COVID-19 vaccines offered substantial protection against hospitalization and death, and even symptomatic illness,  in people living with HIV (PLWH).

Key Findings:

  • Vaccine effectiveness (VE) among those who received 2 doses ≥7 days before specimen collection was:
    • 82% against any COVID-19 infection,
    • 94% against symptomatic infection, and
    • 97% against hospitalization or death.
  • Against any infection, VE declined from 86% within 7-59 days after the second dose to 66% after ≥180 days.
  • No evidence of diminished protection was observed for symptomatic infection or severe outcomes after the second vaccine dose.
  • VE was slightly lower among participants who received only the AstraZeneca vaccine (either as a single dose or two doses), but the differences were not statistically significant.
  • No differences vaccine efficacy following two doses of vaccine were observed due to age, sex, region, number of comorbidities, or for individual pandemic waves was observed prior to the Omicron era.

Among 21,023 adults living with HIV, 7,461 unique individuals were tested for SARS-CoV-2 between December 14, 2020, and November 21, 2021. After exclusions, there were 9,680 (97.2%) test episodes, including 801 (8.3%) test-positive cases and 8,879 (91.7%) test-negative controls (representing 6,465 unique individuals).

Among the 801 test-positive cases, 101 (12.6%) had a severe outcome, including 99 COVID-19-related hospitalizations and 18 deaths. 161 (20.1%) had received ≥1 dose of COVID-19 vaccine, including 63 (9.0%) who received 1 dose ≥14 days before specimen collection and 53 (7.6%) who received 2 doses ≥ 7 days before specimen collection.