Paralympian activist Anne Wafula Strike is the latest voice to speak up about the lack of protections for clinically extremely vulnerable people and those who cannot medically be vaccinated. Writing in the Guardian, she says: “From the very beginning of the pandemic, Disabled people have been treated as an add-on. See, for example, how deaf people were ignored in Downing Street’s vital public health messaging, with no British Sign Language interpreter used in daily briefings. Those with intellectual and development disabilities were initially not on the priority list for vaccines, despite being five times more at risk of hospitalisation and eight times more likely to die from Covid.
“I have felt the same pain this week, as preparations were made to end all plan B measures on Wednesday – including wearing masks on public transport and guidance to work from home. I watched the Prime Minister’s… announcement… met with cheers in the House of Commons; on my television at home, it was met with horror. My first thought was of my clinically vulnerable friends, many of whom have barely left their homes in two years. Catching Covid could still be very dangerous even after being vaccinated, and those who are immunocompromised may not respond to vaccines at all. Yet again, they have been sacrificed at the altar of political expediency.”