about failing to protect the vulnerable
“Since the beginning of the pandemic, people with disabilities have been treated like an add-on,” says British Paralympian Ann Wafula Strike. Writing for The Guardian, a Disability and Inclusion Campaigner notes that there were no British Sign Language interpreters at daily briefings, and people with intellectual and developmental disabilities were not initially on the priority list for vaccination. “It was incredibly frustrating to see a clinically vulnerable group being retroactively treated,” and Strike was “horrified” by the government’s relaxation of “Plan B” rules last week. She thought of her clinically vulnerable friends, “many of whom barely left home in two years,” and immunocompromised people who “may not respond to vaccines at all.” This writer is “sad to see how quickly we forgot what we went through.” Disabled people “can now remain imprisoned in their homes” while “we can no longer expect others to wear masks” on public transport or in stores. “Lives are at stake” unless the decision is reconsidered, Strike says.
