People With Disabilities in COVID-19: Fixing Our Priorities

Published in the American Journal of Bioethics specially issue on COVID-19. From the introduction: “While the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked disproportionate havoc in marginalized racial/ethnic communities, little attention has been given to people with disabilities in the press, public health surveillance, and research. A few articles, including this special issue, consider the discriminatory nature of categorical exclusion from and guidelines for the rationing of medical equipment and services. While important, this focus captures only one—late-stage—injustice toward people with disabilities in the pandemic, and leaves untouched other important periods. We focus on these understudied periods. First, we describe the most relevant and unique disadvantages that people with disabilities experience in health care and community living that place them at greater risk for disparate COVID-19 outcomes. Then we highlight the need to ensure accurate data collection in order to better understand COVID-19 disparities and improve prevention and treatment of, and preparedness for, current and future infectious disease pandemics among people with disabilities.”