“Horrifying” deaths call for jabs to be prioritized for the disabled

According to major charities, people with disabilities in the UK should prioritize vaccination against Covid-19 after official data show that it accounted for 60% of all deaths from illness last year.

James Taylor, Scope’s executive director of strategy for equality for people with disabilities, described the data as “both bright and scary.”

This week, health officials announced they were on the move Additional 820,000 People on the vaccination priority list. This includes people with severe or severe learning disabilities who are promoted to the sixth of the top nine government groups who received the jab.

However, activists said this did not include people with mild or moderate learning disabilities who had an equal risk of dying from illness.

Jackie O’Sullivan, Director of Communications, Advocacy and Activism at Mencap, said: “I want everyone to prioritize, at least in Category 6. [on deaths] I don’t know why a vaccination program is needed because I don’t distinguish between the severity of learning disabilities. “

According to the National Bureau of Statistics Data released last weekOf the 50,888 coronaviruses that died in the United Kingdom between January and November, 30,296 were disabled.

The disparity in coronavirus results is not as obvious as in people with learning disabilities. According to ONS data, women in this condition usually die three times as often as women without disabilities, while Covid dies four times as often. For men, the rate is generally 2.8 times higher, but for pandemics it is 3.5 times higher.

Analysis of data by the Financial Times shows that living in a closed area of ​​a long-term care facility is the only greatest risk factor for viral death for people with physical or mental disabilities. Other important factors are low socio-economic status and existing health. Surprisingly, excluding people in any of these three categories dramatically narrows the outcome gap, especially for men.

According to Taylor, for some people with disabilities, a pandemic meant “a year of pain” that was cut off from contact with many people, and in some cases the health condition deteriorated due to the cancellation of medical appointments. Meaning that. Make these numbers higher. “

One of the most Scandal that attracts attention The early months of the pandemic were high mortality rates for the elderly in long-term care facilities, some of which unknowingly spread the disease after being discharged untested.

Health Minister Matt Hancock later said he threw “Protective ring” Around the sector.

However, ChoiceCare’s CEO, Valerie Michie, takes care of 600 people and helps arrange their lives in a small community of homes. Point out a wealth of guidance With financial support for long-term care facilities for the elderly, housing for adults of working age was overlooked.

Michie said, “The headline of the news is,’Everyone in the care facility was vaccinated and achieved the goal.’ But in reality, all the people in the elderly home.

“We have greatly upset the vaccinated families and parents, and they tell us,” This is not correct, my sons and daughters are much more vulnerable than I am. ” “

A 32-year-old Harry Roche, a learning disability and Mencap ambassador, has endured the long and frustrating waiting for a vaccine. “It’s not fair. People with learning disabilities need to prioritize vaccines because we are at high risk and the UK government doesn’t seem to think so,” he said.

It was a recurring view by the guide dog Carlo and Charles Brock, who is registered as a guide dog living in Coventry. He said his loss of spatial awareness made it difficult for him to stay socially distant when shopping. But the 26-year-old, like everyone else in his age, said he was afraid he wouldn’t be vaccinated until autumn.

“I don’t feel that people with disabilities have been considered or consulted in any area. [official] “Decision,” he said.

Activists give off a faint scent of hope. A letter sent by senior NHS executives to staff involved in the vaccination program last weekend was seen by FT to create a vaccination plan for a care facility where residents have learning or mental illness. State that you need to, and your doctor should exercise some discretion as to who to include in the priority group.

Activists and caregivers also hope that the bad consequences between disabled people during a pandemic will lead to broader debate and behavior about the sharp disparities in health outcomes between disabled and non-disabled people. I will.

Men with learning disabilities die 22 years earlier than men without disabilities, and women die 28 years earlier. O’Sullivan said that in the early days of the pandemic, a nasty attitude appeared when people with learning disabilities were told: You may not receive it A life-saving treatment if they catch Covid.

Initial guidance from the National Health Technology Assessment Organization in March confused the need for support with vulnerabilities, which changed quickly, but charities “do not resuscitate” people’s records. I was dealing with the consequences of being ordered. Agree, O’Sullivan said.

Some orders were still lying there “like unexploded mines,” even though the NHS revealed that this would not happen, O’Sullivan added. “I don’t know if I have it until I need treatment.”

In a statement, the UK Department of Health said:[Covid] It has a disproportionate impact on specific communities and groups of people, including individuals in health associated with known Covid risks, people in long-term care, and people with disabilities.

“We have taken all necessary steps to protect these people through social care policies, vaccination programs, and shield arrangements in place for those who are clinically very vulnerable. We will continue to adopt it. “

Even while campaigners overcome current complexity, Sense CEO Richard Kramer hopes that Covid’s serious impact on the disabled community will bring a lasting legacy. I will.

Pointing out the £ 3.6bn gap between resources and demand for social care, he said: “People with disabilities are in a government crack and if they want to improve their lives after Covid, they need to tackle the inequality they faced before Covid.”

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