People with mental health disorders may be at higher risk of getting COVID-19 despite being vaccinated

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2022-04-15 01:00

International

In a study of over 260,000 US veterans, having a mental health disorder diagnosis - including depression, anxiety, PTSD, bipolar disorders, ADHD, and eating disorders - was linked with greater odds of getting a “breakthrough” COVID-19 infection, where vaccination didn’t stop infection. As the study was carried out from Feb 2020 to Nov 2021, the participants were defined as fully vaccinated but most (97.5%) had not received a third booster dose. Strategies to prevent infections among vaccinated people with mental health disorders are needed, say the authors, such as targeted public health measures and prioritising this group for booster vaccines.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA Network Open

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: San Francisco Veterans Affairs Health Care System, University of California, San Francisco Veterans Affairs Health Care System (US)

Funder: Funding/Support: This work was supported by a UCSF Department of Psychiatry Rapid Award and UCSF Faculty Resource Fund Award (Dr O’Donovan). Dr Nishimi is supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Academic Affiliations Advanced Fellowship Program in Mental Illness Research and Treatment, the Medical Research Service of the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Health Care System, and the Department of Veterans Affairs Sierra Pacific Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC). Mr Bertenthal is supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs Sierra Pacific MIRECC. Publication made possible in part by support from the UCSF Open Access Publishing Fund. Role of the Funder/Sponsor: The funding sources had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

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