The impact of COVID-19 on people who inject drugs in New York City: increased risk and decreased access to services

• Published in: Harm reduction journal Vol. 18; no. 1; pp. 118 - 12
• Main Authors: Aponte-Melendez, Yesenia, Mateu-Gelabert, Pedro, Fong, Chunki, Eckhardt, Benjamin, Kapadia, Shashi, Marks, Kristen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 24.11.2021; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Alcohol use; Big events; Buprenorphine; Care and treatment; Clinical trials; Complications and side effects; Control; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Cross-Sectional Studies; Disease transmission; Dispensing machines; Drug use; Drugs; Epidemics; Fatalities; Harm reduction; HCV; HIV Infections; Humans; Hurricanes; Informal economy; Injection; Interviews; Intravenous drug abuse; Management; Marginalized groups; Mental disorders; Mental health; New York City; New York City - epidemiology; Pandemics; People who inject drugs; Pharmaceutical Preparations; Public health; Risk; Risk taking; Sanitation; SARS-CoV-2; Social aspects; Social isolation; Substance Abuse, Intravenous - epidemiology; Substance use; Syringes; New York City; New York; United States > US; New York City New York; Big events; COVID-19; New York City; HCV; People who inject drugs

While people who inject drugs (PWID) are vulnerable to the adverse outcomes of events like COVID-19, little is known regarding the impact of the current pandemic on PWID. We examine how COVID-19 has affected PWID in New York City across four domains: substance use, risk behaviors, mental health, and...