1/ A report from the @NIHCM Foundation details how COVID disproportionately impacted those with physical & mental health disabilities — from unemployment, to adverse health outcomes. nihcm.org/publications/d…
2/ According to the @NIHCM, 1 in 4 adults in the U.S. has a disability: cognitive, hearing, mobility, vision, self-care, or independent living.
3/ People with disabilities tend to have poorer health when compared to those without disabilities. DEPRESSION stands out as a condition that significantly negatively affects one’s health.
4/ According to the @NIHCM’s, common barriers that “through their absence or presence, limit functioning & create disability” include: Attitudinal, Communication, Physical, Policy, Programmatic, Transportation, & Social Drivers of Health.
5/ People with disabilities face many barriers to accessing healthcare. These challenges include: cost, healthcare provider stereotypes, lack of appropriate provider training, & communication barriers.
6/ COVID has had a disproportionate impact on persons with disabilities.
7/ People with disabilities have faced numerous inequities when it comes to COVID: lack of data (cases & vaxx rates), inaccessible testing & vaxx sites, difficulty finding information, & returning to pre-pandemic life.
8/ @NIHCM provides solutions + strategies to support the health & well-being of people with disabilities.
9/ Last year, Dr @celinegounder & @ronaldklain spoke to @SenatorHassan & Disability Rights Activist @RebeccaCokley about the challenges persons w/ disabilities have faced during the pandemic on E14 of EPIDEMIC, “Disability Shouldn’t Be A Liability."
10/ By working together, the disability community has found ways to overcome some of these challenges. “It continues to blow my mind how innovative the disability community is because we often have to rely on ourselves,” says Cokley.
Listen to the episode: EPIDEMIC.fm
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2/ The #DisinformationDozen—as identified by @CCDHate—are “12 anti-vaxxers who are responsible for almost two-thirds of anti-vaccine content circulating on social media platforms.” —@NanditaB1
3/ But we aren’t all viewed by the algorithm as equal targets. As discussed in an episode of @EpidemicPodcast, social media & disinformation algorithms target vulnerable populations. Listen here: bit.ly/3olnIHW
1/ In a recent article for @washingtonpost@GerritD speaks with Matt Halprin (VP of Global Trust and Safety, YouTube) to evaluate the social media platform’s efforts to remove anti-vaxx activists’ content. washingtonpost.com/technology/202…
2/ Recently, YouTube put policies in place in order to eliminate anti-vaxx content.
YouTube had previously taken this action for COVID vaccines, but now all content that claims any vaccine “approved by Health authorities are ineffective or dangerous,” will be removed.
3/ Though these steps build on actions that YouTube, Facebook, & Twitter have previously taken to reduce inaccurate COVID content early in the pandemic, a parallel epidemic of social media misinformation still persists.
A: Yes. Over a BILLION doses have been administered world-wide. We have tremendous experience and data that we’ve gathered about the vaccines. The vaccines are VERY safe. Getting COVID itself is not.
3/ Q: Are there long-term side-effects from the vaccine?
A: No. Based on our experience with all vaccines known to man going back to the smallpox vaccine, we know that if you’re going to have a side-effect from vaccination, it will show up within 2 months of vaccination.
1/ A 2001 @NEJM article discussed the 1901-1903 smallpox epidemic in Boston, efforts to control it via compulsory vaccination, & the corresponding vaccine controversy. bit.ly/3iveKVK
2/ This table from the article shows the distribution of smallpox cases in Boston throughout the epidemic, & how events such as forced vaccination of the homeless, house-to-house vaccination, & the defeat of anti-vaccination bills affected the case count.
Ensuring as many people as possible were vaccinated was crucial in Boston in the early 1900s––just as it is now. This cartoon illustrates doctors going from house-to-house to vaccinate people & depicts the different responses individuals had to these visits.
1/ @WhiteHouse has started pressuring social media companies to crack down on the spread of vaccine mis- & disinformation, specifically THE DISINFORMATION DOZEN, responsible for ~65% of vaccine misinformation, reported @donie for @CNNBusiness. cnn.it/3rvEjKI
2/ @CCDHate has identified the dozen super-spreaders of anti vaccine misinformation & called on @Facebook & @Twitter to shut down their accounts. Among the dozen is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who despite being deplatformed on @Instagram, is still active on FB with 300K followers.
3/ So far, CCDH has identified & helped deplatform 35 social media accounts tied to the dozen, losing them ~5.8M followers. 62 accounts with ~8.4M followers are still active.