https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-step-to-ease-the-pandemic-mental-health-crisis/

As soon as Joe Biden was elected U.S. president, he made his priorities clear by appointing a panel of distinguished experts to advise him on the coronavirus pandemic. The panel has members who can help the new administration organize vaccine distribution to millions of people and help millions of others who need to be protected until they can get the vaccine. These experts will certainly weigh in on preventive strategies to minimize the likelihood of infection and advise on treatments that can reduce the severity of the disease in those who get sick.

But there is also a need to address a related problem. For months a mental health crisis has accompanied the misery brought on by COVID-19. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in August that symptoms of anxiety had tripled and depression symptoms had quadrupled among a group of 5,470 adults as compared with a survey sample from 2019. Meanwhile mental health services have been stretched worldwide. One reason is that mental health personnel and the facilities they work in have been reassigned to COVID-related tasks during the crisis.