HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM PHI TO YOU!
Greetings from PHI! As the year comes to a close, we hope you and your loved ones have been able to stay safe and healthy. It's been a difficult year, but we can hope that 2021 will bring with it better days. Thankfully, the recent FDA approval of two new COVID-19 vaccines (from Pfizer and Moderna), makes this prospect more likely.
As the new COVID-19 vaccines have begun to be distributed, PHI has been asked a number of questions by our members about the availability, safety and efficacy of these vaccines. PHI's Medical Advisory Committee has gotten together to answer the most common questions we've been asked to help provide some clarity on the topic. This information can be accessed through the homepage or by going to "COVID-19 Vaccine Information for Polio Survivors."
If you have any additional questions, please email us at info@post-polio.org.
UPDATED COVID-19 RESOURCES FROM ACL
The Administration for Community Living (ACL) continues to update its information resource page, What Do Older Adults and People with Disabilities Need to Know About Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)? Recent additions for consumers include information on celebrating safely from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; transportation during COVID-19; staying connected with assistive technology; understanding resilience; and getting vaccines, such as the flu shot.
RESOURCES FOR CAREGIVERS
It’s important not to forget about caregivers during this time of heightened stress and anxiety. The National Rehabilitation Research and Training (RRT) Center on Family Support has some great resources for finding services and support programs to improve the care, health, and quality of life of all persons with disabilities and the families who support them. Check out their website to see how they might be able to assist you.
For example, earlier this year, the Center released a survey to better understand the impacts of the current pandemic and found that family caregivers are being more negatively impacted than non-caregivers in many ways – financially, health-wise, and more. Based on what they discovered in that survey, they then organized a virtual Town Hall that brought together family caregivers, policy experts, and legislators to discuss barriers that family caregivers are currently facing and to understand what programs and supports are needed.
MORE ON POLIO AND COVID-19
There has been a flurry of articles in recent weeks drawing parallels between the rollout of the polio vaccine and the current efforts to distribute the COVID-19 vaccines. Many of these articles have featured interviews with polio survivors. For those of you that are willing, it may be worthwhile to contact your local paper or television or radio stations to see if they have any interest in hearing your story or your thoughts on the new vaccines. Below is a sampling of the many articles we've come across in thepast couple of months.
ARTICLES FEATURING POLIO SURVIVORS
- Kansas City Poliovirus Survivor 'Hopes And Prays' Many Will Agree To COVID-19 Vaccine
- Having Polio As a Child Prepared Me to Survive the Covid Pandemic
- Boone Woman Recalls Life on the Frontlines of Polio Epidemic
- Bearers of the great pandemics
- Guest view: Thinking of skipping COVID-19 vaccine? Read this
- Lessons from the days of polio
- Polio did not define me – a survivor’s story
- Not a Snowflake: 77-Year-Old Veteran Beats Polio, Two Bouts of Coronavirus
- A polio survivor reflects on the last great epidemic
- Pandemics and Me
- History repeats itself
- A Tale Of Two Crises And The Solutions That Bind Them: Wild Polio And COVID-19
LESSONS FROM THE POLIO VACCINATION DRIVES
- What the polio vaccine can teach us about the Covid-19 vaccine
- Development of polio vaccine has useful parallels for COVID-19: historian
- Rollout of COVID vaccine parallels 1950s polio epidemic response
- A polio disaster helped shape vaccine safety. Here's why that matters for the coronavirus.
- How Elvis Helped America Eliminate Polio
- Elvis Presley Received a Polio Vaccination on Live TV — Here's Why Public Vaccinations Matter
- What Elvis Can Teach Us About Vaccine Marketing (audio)
- CHOP's Dr. Paul Offit On Distribution Of Vaccine (audio)
- Coronavirus vaccine's arrival recalls the 1950s battle to stop polio
- 1962 Polio Vaccine Drive Relevant For Today's Push To Immunize
- Polio Pioneers waiting for a new vaccination
- COVID vaccine distribution reminds of lines on ‘Sabin Sunday’ to end polio
PHI relies on the generous support of our members. Please consider donating to support our efforts. Read our annual letter to see the ways PHI has been busy supporting polio survivors this year. We wish you a happy and healthy new year to come!
Brian Tiburzi
Executive Director