
The Spanish Committee of Representatives of Persons with Disabilities (CERMI) has asked the Ministry of Health that the decisions on the future vaccination strategy against COVID-19, once there is an effective and approved vaccine, take into account the reality and needs of this collective.
“For vaccination to adequately reach people with disabilities, in addition to being free, it requires that all devices related to it must be accessible, from information and health messages, to the manifestation the will, passing through the spaces and environments in which it is administered,” says CERMI in a statement.
In addition, the committee asks that people with disabilities who due to their previous health conditions or due to their social or coexistence context (residents in collective institutions, etc.) are more exposed to the effects of the disease, as well as their staff of support, are considered among the preferential groups for the administration of the eventual vaccine.
CERMI also requests that people take into account that certain people with disabilities see their aging process accelerated when prescribing the advisable age groups to which they are assigned to receive the vaccine with priority.
The social movement for disability trusts that “the public vaccination strategy will be decided and deployed in close consultation and with permanent dialogue between the health authorities and representative disability organizations”