[54/365] more vaccine stuff

[cosmolinguist]

Today I helped L get his first vaccine. It was at a different place than I'd had mine, which sucked because I hate new places - - it seems so unfair, when I can't go anywhere, that when I have to go someplace it isn't even anywhere I've ever been before -- but I had really helpful and detailed information from diffrentcolours and mother_bones, who'd been there for her first vaccine last week.

It went really smoothly, thankfully, and I was impressed with how much better it was for disabled people thsn MRI had been for me. But it was still exhausting for both L and I, in our different ways.

I was trying to pick up all the slack of stuff that's difficult for him as well as all the stuff I have to do, but some of it's difficult for me too (I hate it when taxi drivers try to "help" too much, especially when they both think I'm a girl and therefore unable to take apart or lift a wheelchair even when they're seeing me do so right then), and I also had to walk to and from work in very blustery, chilly weather. The wind was horrible all afternoon, and had added drizzle by the time we walked Gary after dinner.

Tomorrow I'd normally be at work but I instead have two meetings, one of which is about covid vaccine provision for disabled people, ironically. At least I have, between just my own and L's and mother_bones's experiences, lots to talk about.

I don't feel overly prepared for the meeting, and finding out this evening that the money I'm supposed to get for this volunteer role is proving more difficult to acquire than I was led to believe has given me some extra anxiety about it. I'm sure it'll all work out, but I'm so tired. Both literally (this morning I was back on my waking-up-at-5am bullshit) and metaphorically.

Comments

[barakta]

I wish vaccination centres had a website with info and a video walk through of the process and space, that would be such a huge access win. My partner says at hers there were chairs for people who couldn't stand, but I don't think there was signage inviting people to ask for support, so disabled people still had to ASK and risk the "but you don't look blind/disabled/crippled" from staff or indeed the many members of the public sitting around.

I think a lot of my wheelchair using friends find taxi drivers (and other randoms, usually menz) overly helpful when they or a PA (usually female or perceived as such) is doing a technical looking task. It all comes down to #JustAskDontGrab again, ask once, listen to answer, and if "no thanks" then fuck the fuck off and leave people the fuck alone (and don't stand around making comments either!).

I hope your meeting goes well and GRRR to the payment for volunteering being more difficult to obtain than you expected, that sucks and is unfair.

[cosmolinguist]

I wish vaccination centres had a website with info and a video walk through of the process and space, that would be such a huge access win.

Yeah, L could've had his vaccination days earlier but he was offered a choice of "get it now at big centre, wait a few weeks and get it more locally at a new centre when it opens" and needed a lot of support around that he wasn't getting. It wasn't clear to him how wheelchair-accessible the centre would be and he was worried about things like "can wheelchairs get into the rooms where the vaccination happens" and it turns out there's not even a room, it's all open-plan heh. But knowing that kind of thing in advance would be really helpful and if he hadn't known about another disabled people who'd already been, he wouldn't have felt good about this choice at all. He made a good point I hadn't thought of: he was worried about choosing to go somewhere that would be in some way bad, and thus committing himself to having to go back there for his second vaccination. I don't think that kind of thing, and the need for that kind of information, have occurred to a lot of people provisioning the vaccine who already have so much to think about.

[barakta]

Yep. the vaccination services in each area really needed to have a panel of (paid) disabled people/carers with different impairments to identify barriers to vaccination and what info disabled people would need about each site or system.

Legally they should have been doing this as part of their anticipatory Equality Act duties.

[cosmolinguist]

Well that's sort of what the group whose meeting I had today is doing, for Manchester. At the very least, it means I can pass on L's good points that I never would've thought of.