Opinion 30 November 2021

Planning for life with COVID – getting some answers on what people with disabilities need to know to stay safe

As Australia opens up despite ongoing COVID community transmission, people with disabilities need to work through some complex questions. One of these questions hits our friend Dr George Taleporos a bit too close to home – so he got some answers to share with all of us in his new series of Reasonable and Necessary.

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News 29 October 2021

Vaccinating people with disability against COVID-19

People with disability are at much bigger risk of getting very sick or dying from COVID-19. But getting a vaccine has been really hard for lots of people in our community, and vaccination rates are still too low. So we have been asking people with disability, families and the people who support them to tell us about their vaccine experiences, so we can tell the government what they can do to make it easier. Here’s what we have heard so far…

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Opinion 5 October 2021

Left behind – disabled people and the COVID vaccine

A new report from the Disability Royal Commission into the COVID vaccine rollout is just the latest in a long list of documented failures by governments to address the needs and rights of disabled people. In the race to “open up”, governments must prioritise the needs of disabled people and do a much better job of engaging with the expertise of disabled people and the sector’s organisations, says El Gibbs, an award-winning writer and disability rights advocate.

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Opinion 26 August 2021

Vulnerable Australians forgotten in race to reopen

In January 2021 the Commonwealth government released its COVID-19 vaccine rollout strategy. The plan prioritised those most likely to be exposed to COVID-19, and importantly those most likely to become ill and die from the disease – a sensible approach, similar to many jurisdictions around the world.

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Opinion 24 August 2021

Open letter: Regarding the reality of booking a COVID vaccination for children with disability and medical conditions

This month, young people with disability joined the list of people who are allowed to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Being eligible is one thing – but how easy is it to actually make happen? Just as we have heard from so many people with disability and families in our community – Heike and her son Bodhi found out just how difficult it can be – the hard way. This is Heike’s open letter to the government.

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