On Wednesday, June 25th, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions conducted a hearing on the nomination of Susan Monarez, Ph.D., for the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The director of the CDC is an incredibly important position. She influences vaccination schedules, disease research, the direction of departments, and public perceptions of health and science. The director will also determine the direction of the CDC’s research on disabilities and illnesses.
When you search the news for this hearing, you will see headlines like “Grilled on Vaccines”, “Walks a Fine Line”, “Ratifies Importance of Vaccines” or “Sidesteps Questions”. With those headlines, you might be somewhat surprised to hear that I was there solely to listen for the nominee’s opinions with potential effects on people with disabilities.
People with disabilities are disproportionately affected by each and every one of the decisions made by the CDC and its director: many people with disabilities are more susceptible to communicable diseases. During the Covid-19 pandemic, we saw this in both the rates of having the virus and the rates of hospitalizations of people with disabilities. But beyond that, we saw people with disabilities losing essential services and community because of the dangers of the virus. Many in the disability community rely on others for support – for personal hygiene, for household tasks, for trips to the grocery store – and had to make terrible decisions between their physical health and their access to other needs.
And now, in the aftermath of the pandemic, we see that people with disabilities are still disproportionately affected. Different states have different guidelines on vaccinations, so different locations are safer than others for those who are immunocompromised. CDC guidance can and does influence how this plays out. A director who gains the trust of the public can sway state and local officials one way or the other and influence how public health is addressed. With the recent data released about the increases in self-reported disabilities since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, this research affects more Americans than ever.
But beyond all of that, the director of the CDC can influence the perception of disability itself. For decades, the disability community has grappled with the belief that vaccines are related to autism – a belief that comes from two disproven studies conducted by one person with critical research flaws and unsound science. One person has the ability to influence perceptions of disability for decades, despite numerous research studies proving otherwise. The disability community must hold accountable influential individuals to ensure sound science is the only science – and within the CDC, the director is the influential individual. With a change of director can come a change in direction, and the disability community needs to watch closely and advocate loudly for positive change.
Plain Language:
On Wednesday, June 25th, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions interviewed Susan Monarez, Ph.D., for the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The director of the CDC is an incredibly important position because she influences decisions at the CDC, like vaccination suggestions. I went to the hearing to listen for how people with disabilities could be affected by Dr. Monarez being the director of the CDC.
People with disabilities can be hurt or helped more than other people by the CDC. People with disabilities can get sick more easily and stay sick longer. They can also lose services because they can’t risk getting sick. After the Covid-19 pandemic, people with disabilities are still more vulnerable to illness.
The CDC director can influence decisions made in each state about public health. This is important because more Americans report having disabilities than before the pandemic.
The CDC director also influences how people think about disabilities because of the science they share. For a long time, bad science told people that vaccines are linked to autism. Now, people with disabilities need to hold the people in charge accountable. We need to make sure the CDC director uses good science in making decisions.
Written by:
Aubrey Rowan
Archer Fellow, NACDD
