ATLANTA, GA -- In April 2021, CLD received supplemental funding to our UCEDD core grant. Authorized under Subtitle D of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000, this funding was provided to all 67 University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDDs) in the US to increase access to the COVID-19 vaccine among people with disabilities and their families.
Specific information dissemination activities conducted so far include the following:
- On May 26, 2021, CLD supported a webinar hosted by Parent to Parent of Georgia (P2P) and Families of Children Under Stress (FOCUS) for parents of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and special health care needs (SHCN). Dr. Georgina Peacock of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Georgia Department of Public Health’s (GaDPH’s) Chief Medical Officer at the time, presented on COVID-19 Vaccine Information and Importance. During her presentation, she answered parents’ questions about the vaccine. Dr. Peacock spoke about what GaDPH and CDC knew about COVID-19, the vaccine, and children.
- In the days leading up to the 31st anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on July 26, 2021, CLD disseminated information with and for Georgia’s disability community. The goal of the dissemination campaign was to inform the community and motivate them to receive their COVID-19 vaccinations prior to the observation of the ADA anniversary. We solicited brief videos from a diverse set of Georgians with IDD, family members, and direct support professionals (DSPs). These videos featured brief, accessible explanations about why each featured individual felt it was important to get the COVID-19 vaccine. The videos were shared via e-mail campaigns and across social media platforms. We created and disseminated four new videos; we also shared resources created by The Sangha Unity Network, P2P, FOCUS, CDC, and GaDPH. The videos and other resources disseminated during the campaign have been viewed by more than 2000 individuals to date. To view the campaign, search #VaccinateByADA on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.
We will continue our efforts this fall and winter by finding and adapting informational resources about the COVID-19 vaccine for children with IDD/SHCN and their families. We will also develop and share case studies of successful Georgia IDD vaccine clinics to improve the success of future vaccine clinics (e.g., those for children with IDD, those at which booster shots are administered to adults with IDD). Our team will integrate the information we find and dissemination products we develop into a Georgia IDD Vaccine Playbook, to be released in early 2022.
For more information about our COVID-19 supplement initiative, please contact Dr. Erin Vinoski Thomas ([email protected]).