Vaccine rollout is excluding people with disabilities
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…
When apathy is deadlier than COVID-19
The pandemic has had a devastating impact on long-term care homes. In this article for the new publication Nature Aging, our team of four Canadian women who’ve created Disability Equity in Health looks at the factors leading to this situation: “Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, many have disregarded worry since the virus “only kills old and…
Deciding who lives and who dies – the #onpoli podcast
As someone who lives with multiple chronic illnesses and disability, news about triage protocols excluding people like me is both worrisome and infuriating. I recently appeared on the TV Ontario #onpoli podcast to talk about it. Listen to the episode on deciding who lives and who dies on TVO.
RA and COVID-19: Can We Go Back to Normal?
In the past week, some countries have started to relax COVID-19 restrictions and there is increasing talk about loosening things up. They call it deconfinement, which sounds oddly benign, like a Victorian lady starting to visit acquaintances for tea again after having produced the spare to the heir. But it’s not benign. I have rheumatoid…
COVID-19 and RA: What to Pack in Your Hospital Go-Bag
Living in the middle of a pandemic while being high risk is the most scared many of us have ever been. When you have rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and are taking an immunosuppressant medication, there is a double whammy of risk. We have to consider what might happen if we need to go to the hospital…