A new study suggests that people with a history of certain mental illnesses may be at higher risk of COVID-19 infection after being vaccinated.
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The shared results show that people with psychiatric disorders should be one of the priority groups to get booster shots, the researchers said.
The study, conducted by the University of California, San Franciscoexamined data from 263,697 fully immunized patients who accessed health care in the United States.
Of the cohort, more than one in two (51.4%) patients had a diagnosis of at least one psychiatric disorder such as substance abuse, psychotic disorders, bipolar disorder, adjustment disorder and l ‘anxiety.
The researchers found that for patients under 65, the risk of developing COVID-19 was up to 11% higher for those who had been diagnosed with a psychiatric illness. And for patients 65 or older, having a psychiatric history was up to 24% more likely to contract COVID-19.
Researcher Kristen Nishimi said this could be because patients with certain psychiatric disorders may have a “diminished immunological response to the vaccine”.
“It is possible that post-vaccination immunity wanes faster or more steeply for people with psychiatric disorders and/or they might have less protection against new variants,” the researcher said.