The remarks made by the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about who is likely to die from the coronavirus have caused a flood of sadness and anger from people with disabilities and people with chronic illnesses who have remained unabated after almost a week.
In a television appearance last Friday, director Dr. Rochelle P. Warrensky discussed the results of a new study of 1.2 million vaccinated people, of whom only 0.003% died of Covid-19. discovered.
ABC News’ Cecilia Vega asked Dr. Walensky, given “encouraging headlines” about “this new study showing how well vaccines work to prevent serious illness.” Does that mean you could stay there? “
Dr. Warensky’s reaction, claimed by her agency, was poorly edited and out of context, offending many Americans with disabilities and chronic illnesses. Advocates requested an upcoming meeting with Dr. Warensky on Friday and issued an open letter on Thursday.
“The overwhelming number of deaths, over 75%, occurred in people who had at least four comorbidities, so in fact, these are people who were initially ill,” Dr. Walensky said in an interview. Said. “Yes, it’s really encouraging news in the context of Omicron. This means not only getting the primary series, but getting the booster series. Yes, these results are really encouraging. . “
For many Americans with comorbidities, ranging from immunosuppression to cystic fibrosis to obesity, these comments are like the last straw and they boldly make their lives. I have endured in a federal pandemic reaction that I consider to be denying. When they started posting on social media using the hashtag #MyDisabledLifeIsWorthy, their complaint was about one or more comments.
The CDC said what Dr. Warensky called “encouragement news” was the findings that vaccines protect most people from serious illness and death, and those who die tend to be disabled. I said it wasn’t true. This week, ABC replaced the original video edited online with a long version with a brief summary of the survey before the comments.
Defenders of disability said the context did not make her statement less damaging — they still presented the death of the disabled as a footnote. And they said the agency’s defense also lacked context: a pandemic response over the last two years.
“It doesn’t make a difference to include the edited part,” said Imani Barbarin, who started the #MyDisabledLifeIsWorthy hashtag. She added, “If someone speaks the wrong way or doesn’t get it right, that means harm to us.”
Regarding the research Dr. Valensky was discussing, Barbarin said it might be encouraging for healthy people in general, but “it’s scary for us.”
Proponents say that the federal government, among other things, is fast enough to make home inspections and high-quality masks widely available, provide clear public health guidance, or prevent their emergence worldwide. A new variant like Omicron who said he had failed Americans with disabilities throughout the pandemic by increasing vaccinations.
“Mr. Warensky’s comments are not a one-off reaction,” said Mariatown, chairman and chief executive officer of the American Association for the Disabled. “One of the reasons her comments are so concerned is that they reveal how people with disabilities are downgraded and considered an acceptable loss.”
A CDC spokesman said: Walensky did not intend that comments on recent television appearances would harm people with disabilities. She has a deep interest in the health and well-being of people with disabilities and those with Covid-19-affected medical conditions. “
