H-I-V...Not As Easy As 1-2-3: Eluding Vaccine Development for Decades

Unbiased Science

This week we answer a commonly encountered question: "why were we able to develop a COVID-19 vaccine in less than a year, but don't have a vaccine for HIV?"

We begin with the population health statistics of HIV globally to set the stage. We then do a primer on classification of viruses to underscore the fact that not all viruses are the same. We focus on SARS-CoV-2 and HIV specifically, and do a brief compare and contrast between the two viruses and virus families.

We focus specifically on the challenges of vaccine development in the context of HIV: complexity of the virus itself, immune response to the virus, and disease pathology. We reiterate that the foundational research for the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine has actually been ongoing since 2002, and wrap up with our hope that someday we will be able to successfully develop an effective HIV vaccine.

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