Attitudes towards Vaccines, Intent to Vaccinate and the Relationship with COVID-19 Vaccination Rates in Individuals with Schizophrenia

• Published in: Vaccines (Basel) Vol. 10; no. 8; p. 1228
• Main Authors: Raffard, Stéphane, Bayard, Sophie, Eisenblaetter, Margot, Attal, Jérôme, Andrieu, Christelle, Chereau, Isabelle, Fond, Guillaume, Leignier, Sylvain, Mallet, Jasmina, Tattard, Philippe, Urbach, Mathieu, Misdrahi, David, Laraki, Yasmine, Capdevielle, Delphine
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 31-07-2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Analysis; Anxiety; Attitudes; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 vaccines; Development and progression; Health attitudes; Human health and pathology; Infectious diseases; Influenza; Life Sciences; Medical research; Mental disorders; Methods; Pandemics; Population; Psychiatrics and mental health; Psychosis; Public health; Schizophrenia; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Vaccination; Vaccines; France; COVID-19; schizophrenia; attitudes; vaccination
• ISSN: 2076-393X; 2076-393X
• DOI: 10.3390/vaccines10081228

Schizophrenia patients are at high risk of developing severe COVID-19 outcomes but recent evidence suggests that they are under-vaccinated. This study explored the role of potential attitudinal barriers by comparing schizophrenia patients with participants from the general population regarding COVID-19 vaccination rates, general attitudes towards vaccines, and willingness to take a COVID-19 vaccine. We conducted a cross-sectional study between April 2021 and October 2021. A total of 100 people with schizophrenia and 72 nonclinical controls were recruited. In our study, individuals with schizophrenia were under-vaccinated, despite similar general attitudes towards vaccination and higher willingness to be vaccinated against COVID-19 compared to nonclinical participants. In patients, negative attitudes toward vaccines were related to higher levels of negative psychotic symptoms and higher levels of paranoid ideation. As a whole, participants with more negative attitudes towards vaccines were less likely to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and had lower levels of trust in institutions. Vaccine hesitancy does not appear to be a major barrier for COVID-19 vaccine uptake amongst people with schizophrenia. This study suggests that disparities in COVID-19 vaccination rates in schizophrenia do not seem related to attitudinal but rather structural barriers.