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COVID-19 vaccine willingness amongst patients with mental illness compared with the general population

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 May 2021

Oskar Hougaard Jefsen Open the ORCID record for Oskar Hougaard Jefsen [Opens in a new window] ,
Pernille Kølbæk Open the ORCID record for Pernille Kølbæk [Opens in a new window] ,
Yael Gil ,
Maria Speed Open the ORCID record for Maria Speed [Opens in a new window] ,
Peter Thisted Dinesen Open the ORCID record for Peter Thisted Dinesen [Opens in a new window] ,
Kim Mannemar Sønderskov Open the ORCID record for Kim Mannemar Sønderskov [Opens in a new window]  and
Søren Dinesen Østergaard Open the ORCID record for Søren Dinesen Østergaard [Opens in a new window]
Oskar Hougaard Jefsen
Affiliation:
Department of Affective Disorders, Aarhus University Hospital – Psychiatry, Aarhus, Denmark
Pernille Kølbæk
Affiliation:
Department of Affective Disorders, Aarhus University Hospital – Psychiatry, Aarhus, Denmark
Yael Gil
Affiliation:
Department of Affective Disorders, Aarhus University Hospital – Psychiatry, Aarhus, Denmark
Maria Speed
Affiliation:
Department of Affective Disorders, Aarhus University Hospital – Psychiatry, Aarhus, Denmark
Peter Thisted Dinesen
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
Kim Mannemar Sønderskov
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
Søren Dinesen Østergaard*
Affiliation:
Department of Affective Disorders, Aarhus University Hospital – Psychiatry, Aarhus, Denmark
*
Author for correspondence: Søren Dinesen Østergaard, Email: soeoes@rm.dk
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Abstract

Patients with mental illness are at an increased risk of COVID-19 infection, morbidity, and mortality, and prioritisation of this group for COVID-19 vaccination programmes has therefore been suggested. Vaccine uptake may, however, be compromised by vaccine hesitancy amongst patients with mental illness, posing a critical public health issue. We conducted two surveys to provide weighted estimates of vaccine willingness amongst patients with mental illness and the general population of Denmark. Vaccine willingness was high in both groups, but slightly lower amongst patients with mental illness (84.8%), compared with the general population (89.5%) (p < .001). Based on these findings, vaccine hesitancy does not appear to be a major barrier for vaccine uptake amongst patients with mental illness in Denmark, but may be so in other countries with lower general vaccine willingness. Replication of the present study in other countries is strongly warranted.

Keywords

psychiatric disordersCOVID-19COVID-19 vaccinevaccine hesitancysurvey

Information

Type
Short Communication
Information
Acta Neuropsychiatrica , Volume 33 , Issue 5 , October 2021 , pp. 273 - 276
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press in association with Scandinavian College of Neuropsychopharmacology

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Footnotes

*

This is an updated version of the original article. For details please see the notice at https://doi.org/10.1017/neu.2021.43.

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