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I am not here to debate the COVID-19 vaccine — I desperately want it. As someone who takes immunosuppressant medication, have a disability, and receive attendant care, I am high risk for getting COVID-19 and to have a severe case. I qualify and  am eligible for the vaccine. Yet somehow, I can’t get it. I channelled my frustration into writing an opinion piece for the Toronto Star:

“I have a disability. Because of this, I receive care in my home from up to six different PSWs every day, some of who work for multiple agencies. Yet, I can’t get the COVID-19 vaccine. I want a shot.”

Read my Op-Ed about COVID-19 vaccine roll-out barriers to disabled people in the Toronto Star.

This is not the first time I have written about the way people with disabilities have been deprioritized and excluded from the pandemic response. You may also want to read the following:

Denied: Disability and Life-Saving Treatment in the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Deciding who lives and who dies. My interview on the TVOntario #onpoli podcast.

Are intensive care triage protocols harming the disabled? Opinion piece for the BMJ, co-authored with Laurie Proulx and Emily Sirotich.

Intensive Care Unit Triage Protocols: A Case for Inclusivity and Engagement in COVID-19. Comment on a study in the Annals of Internal Medicine (scroll down on page). Co-authored with Laurie Proulx and Emily Sirotich

COVID-19 and the forgotten disability community. Co-authored with Laurie Proulx, Emily Sirotich, Catherien Stratton.