“I Already Have This! Should I Be Afraid of COVID-19?”: Entanglements of COVID-19 Pandemic Experiences and Living with HIV Among Chinese Men in Qingdao, China

People living with HIV are a vulnerable group who faced complex challenges during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. In January 2023, the Chinese government officially ended its zero-COVID policy, and, in May 2023, the World Health Organization declared that COVID-19 is no longer a public health emergency of international concern. This study was designed to investigate the personal well-being and mental health experiences of people living with HIV in China before, during and after the pandemic. We used verbal questionnaires and qualitative semi-structured interviews with men living with HIV in Qingdao, China. A total of 17 participants were recruited, and all of them completed both the questionnaire and the interview. The interviews were qualitatively coded and thematically analysed. We discuss three major themes that emerged from the interviews: (1) acceptance, support and stigma of living with HIV, (2) COVID-19 physical and mental burdens for people living with HIV, and (3) access changes to HIV medication during the pandemic. We found that people living with HIV’s heterogeneous experiences of living with HIV interacted with pandemic policies and circumstances. The participants exhibited less fear of COVID-19 but faced fears about quality of life and stigmatisation. We found that the pandemic had psychological impacts on people living with HIV, and that access to HIV antiviral medications proved challenging throughout the pandemic, which revealed a healthcare concern.