|
 Byanyima, who is also United Nations under-secretary-general, said
that during the first pandemic phase in particular, fewer people
opted to be tested and some dropped out of treatment because of long
lines at clinics or other public safety measures that impeded access
to prevention measures.
"We do expect that in the coming years, we might see more deaths, we
might see more new infections as a result of these disruptions," she
said in the pre-recorded interview that aired on World AIDS Day.
Byanyima said vaccine nationalism, in which rich countries buy up
vaccine supplies and poor nations are left waiting, has been "among
the saddest part of where we are."
As rich countries have hoarded vaccines, just over 7% of Africa's
population has been fully vaccinated, according to the Our World in
Data project at the University of Oxford.
Some scientists believe that might have been a factor in the
development of Omicron, the new variant first discovered in southern
Africa that has prompted alarm over chances that vaccines might not
be effective against it.
"It is no coincidence to most of us that it arose in Sub Saharan
Africa, where you have a lot of under-diagnosed HIV infections, or
people who are immunocompromised with it," said John Moore, a
professor of microbiology and immunology at Weill Cornell Medical
College in New York, in a separate interview.
[to top of second column] |
 Moore said people who are
immunocompromised cannot clear the infection as
quickly as those with healthy immune systems,
and that a suboptimal immune response can allow
the virus to keep mutating.
"That's how the other variants are thought to
have arisen - in immunocompromised people," he
said.
Byanyima said research shows that people with
HIV are no more likely than others to become
infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes
COVID-19, but that once infected, they are at
much higher risk of severe illness.
"That is why for developing countries with a
high burden of HIV, this is critical," she said
of the access to COVID-19 vaccines.
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(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; Editing by
Richard Chang)
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