Closing COVID-19 mortality, vaccination, and evidence gaps for those with severe mental illness

The Lancet Psychiatry - Journal Article

Unfortunately, scientific evidence on vaccine hesitancy and the attitudes of people with schizophrenia towards vaccination is a knowledge gap. Although Tzur Bitan and colleagues' study provides a first attempt to characterise determinants of vaccine uptake among patients with schizophrenia, no study to date has stratified patients' COVID-19 outcomes or vaccination rates by their clinical psychiatric status or involvement with psychiatric care. The potential effect of psychiatric care on the pandemic outcomes of these patients thus remains a blind spot. The organisation of care for patients with psychotic disorders is notoriously complex and heterogeneous. Consequently, the pandemic offers a unique opportunity to study the individual (eg, clinical predictors of at-risk groups), mental health-care (eg, treatment setting), and macro-organisational (eg, country health-care system) determinants of COVID-19 outcomes and vaccine uptake among patients with mental disorders. I consider this a priority in the research agenda of mental health-care researchers worldwide. Evidence is the prerequisite for effective action, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

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