The UEMS Section of Psychiatry contributed to a paper entitled "Severe mental illness and European COVID-19 vaccination strategies" published in the Lancet, which emphasizes that people with severe mental illness are not being prioritised for vaccination.
Dr Andrew Brittlebank, President of the Section, said that "Our colleagues have found that too many European countries do not prioritise the needs of people who live with severe mental illness. The research that made this important finding happened because organisations that represent patients, their carers and mental health professionals have collaborated. Together, we are stronger."
Dr Marisa Dias, Vice President of the Section, added that "We found that only four of the 20 countries surveyed – the Netherlands, UK, Germany and Denmark - had some form of higher vaccination priority for outpatients with severe mental illness. We have since learnt that Finland has followed suit. Now is the time to act. We call upon national health authorities to follow the evidence and the ethics and prioritise people who have severe mental illness"
Read the full paper here.