‘COVID-19 vaccines safe for PLWHIV’

THE National Aids Council (NAC) has said COVID-19 vaccination was safe for use by people on anti-retroviral drugs.

NAC chief executive officer Bernard Madzima yesterday told NewsDay that the COVID-19 vaccination would protect HIV patients against the third wave which is ravaging the country.

He said people living with HIV should limit travel as plans were underway to ensure that their ART drugs would be made available at the nearest collection centres.

Recently, there were reports that people with chronic illnesses, including HIV, were defaulting on medication due to the COVID-19 lockdown regulations.

“NAC is part of the national response teams to COVID-19, the issue of our clients in terms of accessing services — whether they are ARVs or other related commodities has been able to be articulated well at all levels from national to the grassroots. Our clients will be able to travel in terms of going to the hospitals or to health facilities to collect their medication,” Madzima said.

He said health workers had already been alerted to give people on ART supplies of up to three months in order to lessen travel during the lockdown period.

“In this current third wave, we encourage that we minimise travel. The tightening of the lockdown is welcome because it is not meant to stifle people from going about their daily activities, it’s actually meant to protect them,” he said.

During the first lockdown period last year, HIV and Aids groups and activists raised concern over the inability of people in their constituencies to get their ART treatment owing to travel restrictions.

On Tuesday, government reverted to the first lockdown measures in a bid to deal with the third wave currently taking a heavy human toll on the country, with daily new infections going as high as 2 000 and 34 deaths per day.