Nasira Manojee, an HIV-positive transgender woman from Karachi, had to ignore her friends’ advice and overcome her own worst fears before getting vaccinated against COVID-19.
“I knew I was doing the right thing as I have faith in the top-notch doctors who are urging everyone to get vaccinated,” said Manojee, 42, who has been taking antiretroviral medication for HIV since 2017.
But it was a difficult decision, and Manojee is jittery about going back for her second shot, reflecting widespread vaccine hesitancy among trans Pakistanis as the country fights to boost inoculation rates in all segments of the population.
Despite official medical advice for them to get vaccinated, many trans Pakistanis fear they could be at risk of side effects due to high rates of pre-existing conditions such as HIV, hepatitis C or complications from gender reassignment surgery.
“My friend told me I may get sick since I have HIV,” said Manojee, who has turned to begging since pandemic curbs put a stop to her usual work as a dancer at social gatherings.
Pakistan’s parliament recognised the third gender in 2018, giving trans people fundamental rights such as the ability to vote and choose their gender on official documents.
But many members of the trans community remain on the margins of society and often make a living through begging, dancing or sex work.
A 2017 census recorded about 10,000 transgender people, although trans rights groups say the number could be some 500,000 in the country of 220 million.
According to UNAIDS, the joint U.N. Programme on HIV and AIDS, people who are HIV-positive may suffer “more severe outcomes” from COVID-19 and should be vaccinated, regardless of their CD4 or viral load.
Countries should consider people living with HIV as a high risk group for COVID-19, priorisiting them for vaccination, it said in June.
At least six international HIV/AIDS experts told the Thomson Reuters Foundation late last year there was no evidence to suggest HIV-positive people were at risk from COVID-19 vaccination.
The post Fear, stigma slow COVID-19 vaccine take-up among trans Pakistanis appeared first on GAY TIMES.
0 Comments