After a year of COVID, vaccinations have begun to offer hope to the American public. Yet, in Kentucky, the vaccination of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) is not prioritized, despite a compelling recent study. This study has found that those with IDD are both at increased risk of contracting COVID and of dying from the disease. While Kentuckians with IDD living in group settings have been prioritized, there has been little clarity on where Kentuckians with IDD outside group settings fall on the vaccine priority schedule.
CDC guidelines, which Kentucky follows, do not prioritize those with IDD, despite the study suggesting that those with IDD are a high-risk group. (Other states have chosen to prioritize people with IDD.) The Kentucky governor has expressed interest in reevaluating the priority schedule and new information has come from the governor’s office indicating that those with IDD are in 1C, the current vaccine priority group. Yet, confusion continues, leaving Kentuckians with IDD wondering when their chance to receive the potentially lifesaving vaccine will arrive.