HIV advocates say COVID-19 vaccines are part of path to pandemic's end

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To say the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted everyone is an understatement. As the virus quickly spread across the country, everything from coffeehouses and churches to theaters and thrift stores found themselves changing how they operated to keep others safe.

A key group of people who feared the virus included immunocompromised individuals such as those living with HIV. Charlotte-based advocacy groups like RAIN say when the pandemic hit, many clients they served found themselves in an all-too-familiar place emotionally: scared and alone.

"A lot of them verbalized it felt like getting their HIV diagnosis all over again," said Darlena Blackwell, director of client relations for RAIN. "And certainly, for persons living with HIV that have been diagnosed for longer periods of time, they felt like they were back at the beginning of HIV when it was hopeless, there was no treatment, or when there was treatment but the treatment was not effective."