- People with severe mental illness are at greater risk of contracting COVID-19, but they are unlikely to have priority to receive the coronavirus vaccine.
- People diagnosed with attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder or schizophrenia are much more likely to contract the new coronavirus than people without severe mental illness.
- Experts say these groups should be given priority for a COVID-19 vaccine.
People with severe mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia and major depressive disorder, are at increased risk of contracting the new coronavirus and dying from COVID-19.
Even so, in most countries, this at-risk population is not prioritized to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
“Society needs to prioritize risk groups, but it is disheartening to see that even during the pandemic, mental health is an afterthought – if that much – for many countries”, Hilkka Kärkkäinen, president of the Global Alliance of Mental Illness Advocacy Networks- Europa (GAMIAN-Europa), said in a press release.
“The scientific evidence is clear that COVID and the resulting blockade are doing significant damage to people with serious mental health problems, but few countries are addressing this. That needs to change. “
In a new study, Kärkkäinen and colleagues looked at 20 European countries to see how they prioritized risk groups for the COVID-19 vaccination.
They found that only Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom recognized serious mental illness as a high-risk medical condition that allows people to be vaccinated earlier.
Their results were published on February 17 in the journal
It is a grim statistic that is reflected in the United States.
Only a few states, such as New Jersey and Ohio, include people with severe mental illness in the early stages of implementing the COVID-19 vaccination. And these were limited to patients admitted to psychiatric hospitals.
While many
Recent research shows that people diagnosed with attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder or schizophrenia are much more likely to contract the new coronavirus than people without severe mental illness.
The researchers think this may be because people with severe mental illness are more likely to work in unsafe environments, live in overcrowded groups or have nowhere to live – factors that increase the chance of acquiring the virus.
Serious mental illness also increases the risk of death from COVID-19.
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A more recent study in
The study authors wrote that people with schizophrenia may have differences in their immune systems that predispose them to severe COVID-19.
Or the drugs used to treat schizophrenia can make COVID-19 worse.
Additional research would be needed to determine whether these factors played a role in patient outcomes.
Dr. Benjamin Druss, professor and President Rosalynn Carter in Mental Health at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, Georgia, says the New York City study suggests that serious mental illness may increase a person’s risk beyond those other factors.
“People with severe mental illness are definitely at high risk [for COVID-19] due to comorbidities, “he said,” and they may be at an even greater risk beyond those comorbidities, as suggested by that article. “
But there are other reasons to prioritize this group for the COVID-19 vaccine.
“People with severe mental illness are also at risk of not receiving the vaccine, even when they are eligible,” said Druss. He says this is due to “a variety of reasons”, such as higher rates of homelessness and a lack of regular sources of primary health care.
He thinks that the designation of this group as a high-risk population should go hand in hand with the allocation of vaccine doses to facilities where people with severe mental illness receive services or health care, such as group homes, homeless shelters , community centers for mental health and psychiatry hospitals.
The approval of a single dose vaccine can help reach this population, since people who receive care or care in these places may not return for a second dose.
“Now, with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on the horizon, which requires only a single dose, it makes even more sense to expand the range of locations that are offering vaccines to include various types of public mental health facilities,” he said.
Although most states do not prioritize people with severe mental illnesses for the COVID-19 vaccine, people may fall into another priority category based on their age or other medical conditions.
To find out if you or someone else is eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in your state, check with your state or local health department.