Numbers issued by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show that over the period from January 24 to November 20, of the 50,888 deaths, 59.5 per cent were people with disabilities.
According to Public Health England, people with a learning disability are SIX times more likely to die because of Coronavirus and the death rate for people with a learning disability is THIRTY times higher than that of the general public.
Mencap is calling for the government to ensure everyone with a learning disability is prioritised for a COVID-19 vaccination. More than 30,000 people with disabilities have died from coronavirus in England in 2020. Mencap is asking people to contact their MP and urge them to speak up for all people with a learning disability. They have made it easy, by following this link, you can see a draft letter and find out your MP.
Ask your MP to speak up for all people with a learning disability
Dan Scorer, head of policy at the learning disability charity Mencap, is urgently calling for everyone with a learning disability to be prioritised in at least group 6 on the vaccine priority list and says it is unacceptable that a group of people who already face “serious barriers to accessing healthcare” are being left out and “their lives put in danger”.