The Pandemic Is Still Going On--And Immunocompromised People Need You to Keep Caring

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It’s October 2021. More than 730,000 people in the U.S. have died due to COVID-19. And nearly every state in the country has substantial or high levels of viral transmission. More than a year into the pandemic, three COVID-19 vaccines are available but we’re still in the midst of yet another coronavirus surge. The pandemic is absolutely not over, no matter what you may want to believe. But it’s those who are already most vulnerable—the immunocompromised, disabled, essential workers, and working-class communities of color—who are most likely to face barriers to vaccine access and will pay the biggest price for others’ negligence.

When I wrote about the need for social solidarity amid the COVID-19 pandemic back in May 2020, I couldn’t have imagined this is where we would end up. On a practical level, social solidarity may mean running errands, bringing food, or otherwise taking care of those in need in your community, or it could mean simply taking extra COVID-19 precautions to avoid spreading the disease to those who are high-risk for severe complications.

But on a larger level, it’s a “means of acknowledging we are interdependent and must focus our efforts toward community care for the sake of public health,” as I wrote last year. “Social solidarity is understanding that when an immunocompromised person contracts COVID-19, our likelihood of surviving is minimal compared to yours. It is an opportunity to unpack problematic notions surrounding disabled and immunocompromised people. Social solidarity prioritizes people who are generally ‘othered’ and treats us as important, valuable, and worthy.”

And many people did engage in social solidarity. They wore masks and stayed home and wanted to flatten the curve. When vaccines became available to the general public, a large number of people did get the shots—not just to protect themselves, but also to protect those around them. Getting vaccinated is absolutely an act of social solidarity but it cannot be where we stop.

https://www.self.com/story/pandemic-still-going-on-immunocompromised-social-solidarity