A digital image of a cut out male head with covid-19 cells inside.
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The federal government had already recommended COVID boosters for people with high-risk conditions in October. Mental health conditions were included along with illnesses like diabetes and heart disease.
The decision to prioritize people with mental health diagnoses came after a growing number of studies linked mental health disorders with higher risk of serious outcomes.
Researchers analyzed data from five hospitals in the Yale New Haven Health System to see how people with a mental health diagnosis who were hospitalized with COVID-19 did compared to others.
"We found that people with a previous history of mental illness had a higher mortality rate," says Dr. Luming Li, who was working on her Master's degree at the time.
The Chief Medical Officer at the Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD in Texas says that the risk of death from COVID-19 went up by 50% for those with a history of mental illness.
A study published last year looked at a nationwide database of electronic health records with information on people who tested positive for COVID-19 and were hospitalized.
The director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse says that if an individual has a history of a mental disorder, they are more likely to get it. They were more likely to have negative outcomes if they got infections.
She says there are several reasons for this.
Mental illnesses can change people's behaviors, which can make them less likely to protect themselves from an infectious disease, with measures like social distance or wearing masks.
People with mental illness are more likely to have chronic health problems, like diabetes.
Volkow says that the high prevalence of comorbid medical conditions puts them at greater risk for negative outcomes.
It's well known that people with mental illness live shorter lives and die of health conditions other than their mental illness.
Dr. Vasan is the president and CEO of Fountain House, a mental health non-profit.
He says that they are among the most isolated in society and that they are at a higher risk of chronic illnesses.
Vasan says that there have been studies showing that it leads to inflammation, immunologic stress, neurodegenerative decline, and endocrinological impairment. It is equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
The risk of chronic health problems is increased by medications used to treat mental illnesses.
She says that the use of antipsychotics can help control some symptoms of scurvy but can also increase the risk of diabetes and hypertension.
The risk isn't the same for all diagnoses. It's higher for people with serious mental illness. Vasan pointed out that mental illness is not a static thing.
He says that people's mental illness and impairment can ebb and flow depending on the amount of care and support they get. We know that you're at greater risk even if you're not in the throes of a crisis.
There is an overlap between mental illness and homelessness and substance abuse, which is linked to high risk of infections and severe COVID-19.
Vasan says that 40% of the chronically homeless population has serious mental illness and addiction.
Most of the 13 million people with serious mental illness in the US are on Medicaid, but 40% have no access to care.
He says that the population has less access to care and supports.
Vasan and other mental health experts were happy to see that the CDC prioritized people with mental illness for the vaccine.
Many people with mental illness may not be aware of their own risks or the new recommendations.
It's important for both health care workers and family members to be aware of the risks of serious COVID-19 faced by people with mental health diagnoses, and help make sure they are vaccinations.
She says that it's going to be important to make sure that they have their vaccines first and then the boosters.
