How long covid could change the way we think about disability

[RV_]

Long COVID will prolong the effects of the Pandemic.

Excerpt:

"Mallory Stanislawczyk was hesitant to make the call. She hadn’t spoken to her friend in years. But the friend, who gets around in a wheelchair, was the only person the 34-year-old nurse practitioner could think of who would understand her questions. About being ready to accept help. About using a wheelchair. And about the new identity her battle with long covid had thrust on her.

“I think she is the first person I said to, ‘I’m disabled now,’” Stanislawczyk recalled telling the friend. “‘And I’m working on accepting that.’”

The coronavirus pandemic has created a mass-disabling event that experts liken to HIV, polio or World War II, with millions suffering the long-term effects of infection with the virus. Many have found their lives dramatically changed and are grappling with what it means to be disabled.

“It’s an entirely new identity,” Stanislawczyk said.

The dramatic influx of newly disabled Americans changes the calculus for disability advocates, who have in recent years been uniting around a shared identity, pushing back against historic marginalization by affirming their self-worth and embracing their disabilities.

“We’re taking a big-tent approach in the disability community,” said Rebecca Vallas, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation.

The shift also underscores the challenges of creating common cause among people who have sometimes battled over limited resources. Those tensions resurfaced as some who share similar symptoms with covid long-haulers, including persistent fatigue, saw research dollars pour into long covid.

 

“There were resentments,” said Diana Zicklin Berrent, who founded the long-hauler advocacy group Survivor Corps. “It was, ‘We’ve been out here screaming from the rooftops for decades, and you guys show up,’” said Berrent, who emphasizes the importance of working together.

By joining forces, long haulers are forcing an existing conversation into the open.

“We’re at this real confrontational moment of trying to educate as many people as possible about disability and structural inequalities and trying to make sure [long-haulers] get the resources they need right now,” said Mia Ives-Rublee, director of the Disability Justice Initiative at the Center for American Progress, who has osteogenesis imperfecta, or brittle bone disease.

Ives-Rublee said that the movement already encompasses a huge variety of experiences and that somebody with dwarfism or spina bifida has an entirely different worldview from somebody with Lyme disease or long covid, which they did not experience from birth and which may not last a lifetime."

Much more in the extensive article here:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/06/06/long-covid-disability-advocacy/?carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F3707d16%2F629e25b9956121755aa95f02%2F596b1cddade4e24119ade2b6%2F8%2F70%2F629e25b9956121755aa95f02&utm_source=pocket_mylist&wpisrc=nl_most

[Ray,IN]

Thanks Derek, that's very interesting. Last week CBS news said long-covid was more prevalent in people who  have been vaccinated.

[Kirk W]

15 hours ago, Ray,IN said:

Last week CBS news said

I assume that you reference this story?

Why boosted Americans seem to be getting more COVID-19 infections

Quote

The new data do not mean booster shots are somehow increasing the risk. Ongoing studies continue to provide strong evidence of additional protection offered by booster shots against infection, severe disease, and death.

Instead, the shift underscores the growing complexity of measuring vaccine effectiveness at this stage of the pandemic.

If that is the story I see nothing about the long term effects being higher but only that mild cases seem to be.

Edited June 8, 2022 by Kirk W

[RV_]

I see the same as Kirk in that story.

Do you have a link that says that? I use links when dealing with complex subjects because folks including me tend to remember what appeals to us. That way everyone sees I am avoiding confirmation bias.

[2gypsies]

4 hours ago, RV_ said:

Do you have a link that says that? I use links when dealing with complex subjects because folks including me tend to remember what appeals to us. That way everyone sees I am avoiding confirmation bias.

Here's the article:   https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-19-vaccine-booster-shot-infection-rate/

[RV_]

Thanks 2!

It validates the opposite. That the boosters are keeping any infections from becoming serious. I think the key sentence is this:

"So, one of the dynamics here is that people feel, after vaccination and boosting, that they're more protected than they actually are, so they increase their risks," he said. "That, I think, is the major driver of these statistics."

Sixth paragraph in the link 2gypsies provided here: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-19-vaccine-booster-shot-infection-rate/

 

Folks don't want to take precautions to the end because of a false sense of security.

Me and Lynn still refuse to go out in public without a mask.

The perfect analogy come from when I taught civilian handgun defense classes. This was in the early 80s.

Women were buying small caliber purse guns without training or practice beyond a few shots in the woods. They had ignorance of how ineffective .25 and .380 rounds are in stopping an attacker.  As well they could not hit the broad side of a barn from inside the barn! They also would go places they normally would avoid day or night with a false sense if security because they had a gun illegally carried concealed in their purses. They were victims looking for a place to get hurt or die. Once we trained them, and that only with a decent caliber handgun, and they could rapud fire two shot strings in under three seconds each accurately, that they took it seriously and stayed away from places they would not go unarmed.

People have a false sense of security from the boosters and are tired of precautions. So they are going without masks in environments indoors and are catching cross infections that are mild because they are boosted and they are ignoring the new rising cases. That is because they think they are more protected than they are. We are not moved by peer pressure so we still mask and are doing fine. Others can go without. Too many infection vectors and we come back another time. It's not our job to convince others. Our doc offices are starting to re-implement mandatory masking in their medical facilities.

 

 

 

[Kirk W]

4 hours ago, RV_ said:

It validates the opposite. That the boosters are keeping any infections from becoming serious.

I read it completely several times and absolutely agree. 

[TXiceman]

I agree that people are taking unnecessary risks.  Any vaccine is not 100% effective.  But I will take the vaccine and boosters even if they are only 75% effective.  My wife and I still limit close quarters and always wear our mask when out in public, whether dining out (pretty seldom) or shopping.

It is sad to see the cross section of those vaccinated across the USA.  Vaccinations and health have taken to a political divide.  More of one party is vaccinated than the other party.

It is not a great imposition to wear a mask when out in public.  Please wear a mask to protect yourself as well as others.

Ken

[GlennWest]

I have repeated sinus infections since I got vaccinated. Got one about two months ago on last job. Cleared up and jumped right back on me. Now sick again. Not saying vaccine caused this but fact is fact. I really see no way to weld and wear those masks. Glasses would stay fogged up. 

Edited June 11, 2022 by GlennWest