What does it mean to be made vulnerable in the era of COVID-19?

Abstract

Elsevier has created a COVID-19 resource centre with free information in English and Mandarin on the novel coronavirus COVID-19. The COVID-19 resource centre is hosted on Elsevier Connect, the company's public news and information website.Elsevier hereby grants permission to make all its COVID-19-related research that is available on the COVID-19 resource centre -including this research content -immediately available in PubMed Central and other publicly funded repositories, such as the WHO COVID database with rights for unrestricted research re-use and analyses in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for free by Elsevier for as long as the COVID-19 resource centre remains active.

People with Disabilities and Other Forms of Vulnerability to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Study Protocol for a Scoping Review and Thematic Analysis

“…The examples in box 1 were constructed (ie, hypothesized) by the research team, who collectively hold expertise in disability and rehabilitation studies, global health, occupational therapy, psychology, ethics, and sociology. These examples were further informed by a recent global perspective on who faces health equity risks in the times of COVID-19, 1 a recent editorial in The Lancet on defining vulnerability or groups vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2 a subsequent commentary on vulnerabilities that arise from social disadvantages entrenched in societies, 14 broader conceptualizations of social disadvantage 63 and marginalization, 64 and a myriad of recent publications pinpointing possible health and socioeconomic determinants or consequences of COVID-19, cited in the paper’s introduction.

Box 1.

…”

“…Yet, to promote a theoretical integration and avoid a miscellaneous of unconnected perspectives, an overarching standpoint or theoretical cement is defined a priori. Within this regard, the thematic synthesis can be informed, among others, by an equity-oriented perspective, 1 , 24 , 68 , 69 systems-based thinking, 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 complex science principles, 77 , 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 human-rights based perspectives, 82 , 83 social and occupational justice lenses, 84 , 85 , 86 and disability-inclusive and universal design thinking, 37 , 87 , 88 , 89 , 90 all applied to an integrative development of health and social policies 1 , 8 , 14 , 24 that is needed now more than ever. 91 , 92 …”

“… 1 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 For instance, minorities or socially disadvantaged populations can also be disproportionally affected by COVID-19, such as African Americans; Hispanics; refugees; migrants; indigenous people; uninsured individuals; prisoners; and those who are institutionalized, homeless, resource-poor, living in densely populated communities or households, frontline essential workers (ie, unable to telework), and who have no access to soap or clean water. 1 , 2 , 5 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 These are just a few examples of social disadvantages or vulnerabilities, entrenched as societal injustices, which add to individual vulnerabilities to the COVID-19 pandemic. 2 , 14 Vulnerability to the COVID-19 pandemic can be reflected in terms of greater exposure to or risk of being infected, not having timely access to COVID-19 diagnostic tests, not being able to access health care once infected, or experiencing more frequent or severe health and socioeconomic consequences, even without being infected.…”

“… 1 , 2 , 5 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 These are just a few examples of social disadvantages or vulnerabilities, entrenched as societal injustices, which add to individual vulnerabilities to the COVID-19 pandemic. 2 , 14 Vulnerability to the COVID-19 pandemic can be reflected in terms of greater exposure to or risk of being infected, not having timely access to COVID-19 diagnostic tests, not being able to access health care once infected, or experiencing more frequent or severe health and socioeconomic consequences, even without being infected. 8 , 16 , 17 , 18 …”

Epistemic Ignorance, Poverty and the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Furthermore, ethical decision-making needs to acknowledge that specific groups are in a distinct position that needs to be treated separately to respond to their specific vulnerabilities; otherwise, they face a situation of hermeneutical injustice where the peculiarities of their circumstances are ignored or misrepresented in systematic assessments (cf. Fricker 2007;Ahmad et al 2020). For instance, public consultations should not ignore the fact that many undocumented immigrants live among us and that efficient health policies need to identify their particular needs and vulnerabilities.…”