“Urgency of Normal” Rhetoric Fuels Pandemic Ableism
Content note: ableism, death, suicide inference
The US response to Omicron is a continuation of its failure to take COVID-19 seriously from day one. Growing “urgency of normal” rhetoric, stemming from two years of pandemic fatigue (which should not be discounted), suggests that ignoring COVID will end the pandemic. We are all tired of the pandemic, but one group in particular — chronically ill people — know that you can’t ignore your way out of an untreated health issue.
Everyone wants the pandemic to end, but how are chronically ill and other disabled people faring?
CONTEXT
I am reasonably certain I had COVID in March 2020. Before this infection, I was inundated by the constant refrain: “Don’t worry, only vulnerable people will die.” This messaging was successful: it made many people feel better about the novel virus. For me, it was the opposite: because I am high-risk, I heard “Don’t worry, only people like you will die.” Since day one of COVID, people like me have been presumed disposable, complementing longstanding societal messaging that being disabled is intolerable. I often hear, “I’d kill myself if I were you.”
I take three immunosuppressive medications to manage a disease called axial spondyloarthritis, and I have multiple other conditions…
