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People with disabilities to get dedicated COVID-19 vaccine plan

Santa Cruz Sentinel - 2/9/2021

Feb. 8—SANTA CRUZ — This week, both county and state officials are discussing best practices around vaccinating those with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their caregivers against COVID-19.

An email from Santa Cruz County Health Officer Dr. Gail Newel hinted at a reformed Phase 1b that clearly outlines the necessity to prioritize the population.

Gov. Gavin Newsom added to the suspense Monday during an address at Petco Park, the vaccine supersite in San Diego.

"Dr. (Mark) Ghaly and I made a pact to resolve this once and for all by the end of the week," he said in reference to where people with disabilities as well as those with underlying health conditions will be placed in the vaccine rollout plan.

Camphill Communities California Associate Director Jon Flint emailed Newel and others asking the county to articulate the plan of action to distribute a vaccine to the disabled and their caregivers living at home. Newel offered that his concerns had been raised to the state by she and many other county health leaders.

"Our county vaccination plan clearly aligns us with the federal phases and state tiers for vaccine prioritization. We have very little local autonomy in this scheme, but there are things we CAN do to ensure equity, including for those with disabilities," she wrote back. "Thank you for your advocacy."

Newel added that home health care workers, both paid and unpaid, were prioritized in Santa Cruz County in Phase 1a, meaning there are already avenues for vaccination for that group. On Friday, Newel said, the state posted new clarifications to its vaccine priorities. The clarifications address caregivers with direct risk of COVID-19 exposure who care for regional center consumers at a high risk of compilations and related fatalities.

"Eligible family members must obtain documentation from their regional centers, verifying the qualifying condition of the family member cared for and caregiver status," California Department of Public Health adds.

For those with disabilities themselves, the work is still being done, Newel explained.

"The State is working to update their Phase 1b, Tier 1 priorities to include developmental and other disabilities in the current vaccine tier," Newel wrote. "Health officials were shown draft language by California Department of Public Health leadership on Wednesday and told it would be posted soon."

Flint told the Sentinel he is familiar with the draft language after a conversation with a member of the state's Community Vaccine Advisory Committee.

"He was reticent that the language fully encompasses our needs and our advocacy goals, but, nonetheless, the message does seem to be heard, locally and state-wide," Flint said. "The affirmation of the need goes a long way to leveling the playing field and the idea of having an equal opportunity for the disability community, which is too easily marginalized, to be equally represented and heard in the decision-making process."

Work ahead

Flint, who has been sending emails, letters and gathering signatures for petitions since the first vaccines arrived in Santa Cruz in mid-December, said work has to continue until every available avenue is utilized for the intellectually and developmentally disabled and those who care for them. Relying on the Federal Pharmacy Program, an effort in which the Centers for Disease Control has partnered with CVS to inoculate residents and staff at congregate living facilities, is not enough.

"(Recently), the environment significantly shifted positively in terms of scheduling vaccine clinics through CVS and the County shifting resources toward caregivers and people receiving long-term care," Flint said in an email. "At our clinic, the CVS pharmacists said that each team increased to eight or nine clinics per day at the direction of the state — she said there were something like 300 clinics that need to be scheduled — and so the urgency has been heard."

Flint commended Newel and her staff for acknowledging the need to expand options for long-term care settings in a January press release. Through the release it was formalized that all paid and unpaid persons serving in healthcare settings who have the potential for exposure were included in Phase 1a as detailed by the Department of Health. Support for those in all health care settings, such as those caring for those with disabilities, needs to continue, he said.

"The skeptics still have the loudest voice in the room and are disproportionately impacting the decisions of populations who are most likely to be exposed," Flint said. "I've read that health care settings that were the least prepared, offered the least amount of PPE to workers, struggled the most with COVID-19 outbreaks, also had the most workers refuse the vaccine. This cuts to the heart of the inequity which continues to fuel the pandemic. More than anything else, the pandemic is spread by a lack of trust and lack of resources, which magnifies the public health challenge for the entire community."

Flint said his goal is to see that by April 5, 85% of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, their direct support professionals, family caregivers and skill instructors have immunity from COVID-19 in Santa Cruz County.

"I think we are at the stage where we need to reach the people who are eligible for the vaccine but sitting on the fence and intentionally listen to their questions that are preventing them from choosing to be vaccinated," Flint said. "We have a window to make a difference now and be prepared for whatever the new variants bring."

As of Monday, the county had not recorded any cases of any of the new variants coming into the U.S., according to county spokeswoman Corinne Hyland.

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