Reuters previously addressed claims that an Australian COVID-19 vaccine candidate contained a fragment of HIV virus (here). The development of the vaccine by the University of Queensland and biotech firm CSL was found to interfere with HIV tests, but routine follow up tests confirmed there was no HIV virus present, according to CSL (here). The trial was halted and the vaccine is not in use (here).
No COVID-19 vaccines approved for administration interfere with HIV tests, said Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.