Incapacity rights activists demand scrapping of age bar for vaccination | Pune Information

Pune: Disability rights activists have asked for the age limit for vaccinating people with disabilities to be lifted and for all categories of disabilities to be included in the vaccination campaign.
They also want caregivers for people with severe disabilities to have Covid shots as well. The second phase of the campaign, which began on March 1, is currently aimed at people aged 60 and over and people aged 45 and over with comorbidities.
The current circular only states that people with disabilities (PwD) will be included in the 45-year-old age group. However, their scope is limited to just a few disabilities instead of all 21 disabilities set out in the Disability Rights Act of 2016.
While the center has already announced that recipient groups vaccinated against Covid-19 will be extended in the coming days, activists have called for vaccinations for people with all types of disabilities.
Ramchandra Rangolle, a Pune-based activist with visual impairment, said when the government set the priority groups, it did not take into account all types of disabilities. “The choices they have made of comorbidities are very limited,” he said. Rangolle said many visually impaired people may not fit into the age group and it is time the government priority grouped this category, taking into account the risk and the overall distribution of cases.
Disability rights activist Anita Ghai said there should be no age limit for people with disabilities to be vaccinated, and since the vaccination sites are some distance away, there is no mention of local authorities reaching this population. She said the government should give all centers instructions on how to build ramps and provide general accessibility information or home vaccination regulations

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