HIV Vaccine Awareness Day (HVAD) is observed annually on May 18th to recognize and thank all the dedicated volunteers, community members, health professionals, and scientists working together to develop a vaccine to prevent HIV. It is also a day to educate about the importance of preventive HIV vaccine research. A safe and effective preventive HIV vaccine is key to ending the HIV pandemic.

This HVAD is like no other before. As we grapple with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and vaccination rollout, the conversation regarding vaccines is perhaps more relevant than any other time in recent history. HIV and COVID-19 each present a vivid picture of the need for the vaccine enterprise. A durable, sustainable end to any epidemic depends on a vaccine. HVAD is a day to call attention to the still urgent need for an HIV vaccine, take stock of progress, recognize the incalculable contributions of trial participants and researchers—and, this year, to explain how work in HIV has created a foundation for the unprecedented speed of COVID-19 vaccine development. Conversely, there are many questions regarding the specific kind of vaccine being used for COVID-19 — an mRNA vaccine — and how its findings are impacting the world of HIV Vaccine research and development. So, with that in mind, here is a quick primer to catch you up to speed on what’s going on in the world of vaccines and HIV!

First of all, what is going on with the COVID-19 vaccine, and what does it have to do with HIV?

The biggest question regarding the COVID-19 vaccine (and it’s relationship to an HIV vaccine) we often hear is, “How was the vaccine developed so quickly? Is it really safe?” To help answer this and many more questions, check out the video below from UNAIDS that dives into how the COVID-19 vaccine was developed and how the resulting research might bode well for future vaccine development.

In case you want to dive into the science a little more, researchers are leveraging the messenger RNA (mRNA) technology used to develop the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for possible treatments for a range of other diseases, including HIV and cancer. This has long been thought possible with mRNA technology, but infectious diseases were something of the low-hanging fruit, and the unprecedented nature COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on people and the global economy drove the rapid innovations.

In theory, mRNA technology is a way of exploiting the body’s own genetic blueprints. Traditional vaccines used either living or dead viruses to train the immune system to recognize viruses the next time they encounter them. So when you go for your annual flu shot, these typically have dead or severely weakened viruses from the strains that are predicted to be most prevalent in any given year. The COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, instead, use the genetic code for a piece of the virus—the spike protein—and cause the body to generate the spike proteins, which trains the immune system to recognize the virus.

The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are the first mRNA-based therapeutics of any kind to be authorized for use. And because they can be developed and modified so quickly, some version of mRNA vaccines is likely to be the default approach in the future. HIV research also includes efforts to develop a vaccine for HIV treatment (called a therapeutic vaccine). Treatment with a therapeutic HIV vaccine would ideally keep HIV at undetectable levels without the need for regular antiretroviral therapy (ART). To learn more, read the Clinical Info fact sheets What is a Preventive HIV Vaccine? and What is a Therapeutic HIV Vaccine?

About Cascade AIDS Project

CAP is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1985 as a grassroots response to the AIDS crisis. As the oldest and largest community-based HIV services provider in Oregon and southwest Washington, we seek to support and empower all people with or affected by HIV, reduce stigma, and provide the LGBTQ+ community with compassionate healthcare. We do so by helping to ensure the health and well-being of our program participants each year through health, housing, and other social services. When the need for affordable, accessible, and culturally affirming primary care services was identified as a community need, we responded by opening Prism Health in 2017.  More information can be found at www.capnw.org.