WPA urges health departments to give priority to people with a severe mental illness in the vaccination programmes being rolled out around the world.
The WPA Advisory Committee in Response to Emergencies (ACRE) has been meeting regularly throughout the COVID 19 crisis. During its January 2021 meeting, the WPA ACRE urged the Member Societies to consider approaching their respective governments about the need to prioritise people with Severe Mental Illnesses (SMIs) in the current vaccination programmes. Consequently, a letter was sent to all Member Societies in January outlining this recommendation with the Position Statement on the “Health care for people with mental illness during the current COVID 19 pandemic”, which was approved at the WPA General Assembly in October 2020.
The letter and the Position Statement were welcomed by many Member Societies, many of whom have since advised that, as a consequence of their approach, their respective governments are now considering this proposal.