User:SeltzerWater99/Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with disabilities

Covid-19 Vaccine Access Issues for Disabled People
For disabled individuals, COVID-19 vaccine distributions have raised some concern. In many westernized countries, such as the U.S., Canada, Australia, and across Europe, the vaccine rollouts have been uneven, exposing and exacerbating the inequities disabled individuals face. Despite disabled people being more willing to be vaccinated than those without disabilities, they have been vaccinated at lower rates. This vaccination-rate discrepancy likely grew from non-standardized vaccine rollouts; in the United States, for example, each state was allowed to differently implement the vaccine guidelines put forth by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Similarly, in Europe and Canada there were no specific guidelines in place that provided accommodations to disabled individuals. This lack of standardization and accommodation left many disabled individuals behind, unable to get the vaccine regardless of desire.

A recent investigation into vaccine access in the United States conducted by the CDC cites access difficulties as one of the main reasons why disabled individuals are vaccinated at lower rates than the rest of the population. For example, many disabled individuals cite having trouble either getting to a vaccination location or making online appointments as one of the reasons why they have not yet been vaccinated. To overcome these obstacles, the CDC has issued a set of guidelines with regard to vaccine distribution to disabled individuals. These guidelines outline changes that vaccine locations should make such as making instruction and information available in American Sign Language (ASL) and in braille. Europe has also established similar guidelines.

Education
For some students, the shift to online education has provided greater accessibility in some ways. Certain students with auditory or visual disabilities were better able to access and use assistive technology such as closed captions or enlarged text in accessing course content. Some students with chronic conditions found the more “on-demand” style of learning to be more accommodating to unexpected bouts of illness. Students with physical disabilities who may have struggled with getting to class could access content remotely.

With schools now returning to pre-pandemic education modalities, disabled students are facing a new set of challenges in the classroom. Accommodations granted to disabled students due to the circumstances of the pandemic have been rolled back in some instances. With schools returning to in-person education without mask mandates in place, immunocompromised students have had to risk their health in order to attend in-person classes.