Devaluing people with disabilities

On March 3, a group of mostly healthy and younger Pennsylvanians were moved to the front of the COVID-19 vaccine line. In the process, Pennsylvanians with disabilities and their unpaid caregivers were pushed further back. That’s what happened when Gov. Tom Wolf announced that all teachers, regardless of age or medical condition, would be moved into Priority 1A and receive the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine before anyone else.

I cannot begrudge those who lobbied the governor and Pennsylvania’s Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam to get this decision made, but as the CEO of an organization that serves and advocates for people with disabilities and their families, I have to register my strong disappointment and frustration because of how it adversely impacts those for whom Achieva exists.

A lot of people in 1A, including unpaid caregivers of people with a disability, have struggled getting an appointment due to limited vaccine supplies, and people with disabilities were already waiting patiently for their turn (having been placed into Priority 1B by the state Health Department).

People with disabilities and unpaid caregivers have waited months to get the vaccine, and now a largely healthy group will be getting the latest vaccine ahead of them — within just weeks of Food and Drug Administration approval. It hasn’t been explained to the public how this is “following the science.” It seems to me it’s another example of how people with disabilities are invisible to, and devalued by, Harrisburg decision-makers. STEVE SUROVIEC President and CEO Achieva South Side