During the COVID-19 pandemic, we may all be weathering the same storm, but we are not all in the same boat. Some of us are in sturdy yachts, while others find themselves in much more precarious vessels.
One person’s experience of the last twenty-two months can be vastly different from the next. How can we implement public health measures that work for everyone, when our needs, risk tolerance, and living situations are so diverse?
When faced with a highly contagious virus that spreads through the air we breathe, protecting the most vulnerable people among us is a collective responsibility. Individuals can neither protect themselves nor protect others when transmission within the community is allowed to run rampant.
In a world that is increasingly centered around “me” and “now”, how can we build a future where we are all safer and stronger together?
This briefing provides insights regarding what it’s like to be a clinically vulnerable person during the COVID-19 pandemic in BC. When the institutions we created to protect public health decide that the rampant spread of an infectious disease is preferable to regulating vaccinations, masks, the purification of indoor air, increasing the capacity of our healthcare system, or burdening private businesses with temporary inconvenience, who pays the price?
What are some of the choices clinically vulnerable people have to make in order to stay safe?
What impact has the pandemic had on them, their families, and their communities?
If others could walk in their shoes, what would they hope they’d learn?
If they could speak with BC Public Health leaders what would they tell them?
Speakers:
Sharona Franklin, Artist and Disability Advocate
Isabel Jordan, Patient Partnership Specialist
Marion Brown, MBA, Policy Design Consultant
Facilitator:
Jaclyn Ferreira, Rare Disease, Disability & Inclusion Advocate