Thread by @V_MatthiesBoon

Nearly all recent in person academic conferences/workshops I heard off (unsurprisingly) turned into #Covid mass spreader events. Trouble is that offline conferences not only increase ableist segregation, but also in this way contribute to chronic disability 🧵#AcademicTwitter 1/7

Every (re)infection significantly increases the chances of #LongCovid, and other long term #chronicillness. And those who already have #LongCovid or another #disability (many academics!!) can often not even consider participating. 2/7

Remember that vaccinations do not protect sufficiently (by a looong way!!) against #LongCovid. And so anyone can suddenly become severely disabled. Long Covid is not being a bit tired, but for many more akin to living one's death. I kid you not. It is torture. 3/7

And there is no cure, no treatment. This is problematic for any academic, as particularly the fatigue and brainfog means one can no longer work. Those on temporary contracts will suffer the most, whilst any of us may lose their jobs. @IngridRobeyns @WOinactie @koryoinleiden 4/7

And so, we, academic organisers, must do this differently and remember not only that, whether we like it or not, #CovidIsNotOver and the current governmental violations of right to health is a matter of fundamental #HumanRights. (See:

https://twitter.com/msteenhagen/status/1545537712786182145?t=vaTYPoBTKR8FbeLktgRqOQ&s=19

) 3/4

Rather than ignoring ou human vulnerability, we should foster equality of participation in ALL contexts - whether that is #teaching, #research or #events like #conferences. And find new ways of organisation - or insist on simple measures such as mask wearing.

It basically means that we, as a scientific community, would start to follow the science... rather than our (understandable but irrational) desire for the pandemic to be over.

@SarahABracke @a_moors @martijndekker @Martijn5155 @jgrin1 @bialasiewicz @ginnymooy @Ammer_B @BertMulderCWZ @raouljdegroot @a_teti @tjalcovrv @itsbodypolitic @MathijsvdSande @TamarSharon @0pointseven

@NelVandekerckh1 @LotjeSiffels @SchorPatricia @PostCovidNL @allehandensamen @StLongCOVID @LongCovidNLPasc @C19LH_Advocacy

And just in case you are wondering, both the spelling and numerical errors in the above are due to a Long Covid induced inability to focus...