Letter from 100+ Disability Organizations Urging CDC to Revise Mask Guidance and Protect High Risk Individuals

Dear Director Walensky:  

The undersigned individuals and organizations write in response to the February 25, 2022  changes to the masking guidelines put forth by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  (CDC). As you are aware, tens of millions of disabled, chronically ill, immunocompromised,  people of color, and older people in the United States have been disproportionately impacted by  COVID-19 and still face substantially elevated risk of severe illness or death.i We urge the CDC  to revise the new guidance to address the needs of high risk people and recommend that  everyone wear N-95s or the highest quality masks available in indoor public settings including  schools. 

The CDC’s new guidance no longer recommends that the general public wear masks indoors,  including unvaccinated people and people who have not received boosters, if they live in newly  defined “Low” or “Medium” COVID-19 Community Level areas, and only recommends masks in  schools in counties with “High” COVID-19 Community Levels. The new criteria for community  risk levels reflect admissions and hospital capacity, but de-prioritize case counts and do not look  at transmission rates or other factors that would quickly register changes in risk. Despite  acknowledging that some disabled, chronically ill, immunocompromised, people of color, and  older people require additional protections, the new guidance does not address the needs of  disabled people and older adults–as well as children with and without disabilities under five who  are still not eligible for vaccines. This new guidance will not work for these communities and  places us, and our friends and families in danger.  

While we share the country’s relief as COVID cases and deaths drop from the peak of the latest  wave, we have seen this pattern before. When protections that are key to lowering transmission,  such as universal masking, are removed too soon after a peak and before low transmission is  demonstrably sustained, new variants emerge, causing cases to spike and putting the lives of  all Americans – particularly disabled, chronically ill, immunocompromised, people of color, and  older people – at greater risk once again. Pandemic policy must recognize that the most  effective way to protect the general public is to prioritize those most at risk in all aspects of  policy and guidance. Without that focus, it will be impossible to get ahead of the virus in the  long-term, end the pandemic, and stabilize the economy. And Long COVID cases resulting from  even “mild” infections will continue to rise, with life-altering consequences for hundreds of  thousands of people and strain on our health and long-term services and support systems that  are not equipped to handle this mass-disabling event. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data  already shows that in 2021 alone, we added around 1.2 million more disabled adults to our  communities.ii This is more than any other time on record for BLS and does not even take into  account the children who have become disabled. Only once case counts and transmission rates  have dropped and universal vaccines are available will the pandemic end. 

Until that time, all individuals, including people with disabilities, have a right to fully participate in  their communities without putting their health and lives at risk. As young children remain  ineligible to receive vaccines, people with disabilities and people of color face continuing  barriers in accessing vaccines, and millions of immunocompromised individuals are unable to  access COVID treatments due to inadequate supply, universal indoor masking remains  necessary for the public health of our nation. The new guidance which will drastically reduce  indoor masking at this time is contrary to the White House and the CDC’s stated goal to protect  our community and will exacerbate inequities that lead to our further segregation and cause an  even higher risk of severe disease and death. 

Masking provides crucial protection for many people with disabilities, including those who may  not be able to mount a robust immune response to vaccination and those who may be unable to  receive the vaccine or boosters because of medical contraindication or young age. For the small  number of people with disabilities who cannot wear a mask due to their disability, consistent  indoor masking by the general public provides an additional layer of protection. While the  relaxed guidance does not apply to health care or congregate living settings, as we have  conveyed repeatedly to the CDC and White House, the current masking guidance for health  care settings is insufficient and has left many disabled, chronically ill, immunocompromised, people of color, and older people unable to safely go to medical professionals’ offices and  unsafe in congregate settings. We support universal indoor masking with the most protective  masks as a necessary protection to prevent and reduce spread and ensure that people with  disabilities and high-risk health conditions can be fully included in their communities, attend  school and access health facilities, as is their civil right. This is particularly the case for people  with disabilities who rely on direct support workers who come in and out of their homes from the  community and for those living in congregate settings. 

As you said in a meeting with some of our organizations on January 21, 2022, “I no longer want  a report on inequities, I want to do something about them.” In order to enact an equitable vision  of pandemic recovery that centers communities most at risk, we ask the CDC to recommend  that everyone wear N-95s or the highest quality masks available in indoor public settings  including schools. 

Sincerely, 

American Association of People with Disabilities 

Autistic Self Advocacy Network 

Be A Hero 

Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund 

Justice in Aging 

Little Lobbyists 

The Arc of the United States 

Mia Ives-Rublee, Disability Justice Advocate  

Matthew Cortland, Disability Justice Advocate 

504 Democratic Club 

A Better Balance 

Advancing Health Equity 

American Council of the Blind 

American Foundation for the Blind 

American Geriatrics Society 

Association of People Supporting Employment First (APSE) 

Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living 

Association of University Centers on Disabilities 

Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network 

Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law 

Body Politic 

Brain Injury Association of America 

Californians for Safe Schools 

Caring Ambassadors Program 

Center for Public Representation 

Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC) 

Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation 

CommunicationFIRST 

Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates 

Count US IN 

COVID Survivors for Change  

COVID-19 Longhauler Advocacy Project 

Davis Phinney Foundation for Parkinson's 

Detroit Disability Power 

Disability Policy Consortium 

Disability Rights California 

Disability Rights Center of Kansas 

Disability Rights Florida 

Disability Rights Maine 

Disability Rights Michigan 

Disability Rights New York 

Disability Rights North Carolina 

Disability Rights Wisconsin 

Doctors for America 

EndCoronavirus 

Family Voices 

Family Voices NJ 

Family Voices of ND 

Federation for Children with Special Needs 

Freedom from Covid Facebook Group  

Fund for Community Reparations for Autistic People of Color's Interdependence, Survival, &  Empowerment 

Health Care Voices

Health Justice 

HUNE  

Independent Living Resource Center San Francisco 

Indiana Protection & Advocacy Services Commission / Indiana Disability Rights Indiana Statewide Independent Living Council (INSILC) 

Justice James Consulting / The World Health Network 

Maine Parent Federation 

Marked By Covid 

Metropolitan Parent Center, Sinergia Inc 

Michigan Parent Alliance for Safe Schools 

National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys 

National Action Network Disabilities Committee New York Chapter 

National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities 

National Association of Social Workers (NASW) 

National Center for Parent Leadership, Advocacy, and Community Empowerment (National  PLACE) 

National Center on Deaf-Blindness  

National Coalition for Latinxs with Disabilities (CNLD) 

National Council on Independent Living 

National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) 

National Disabled Law Students Association (NDLSA) 

National Down Syndrome Congress 

National Health Law Program 

National Network for Long COVID Justice 

NC Alliance for School Equity and Safety 

Neighborhood Access 

New England Complex Systems Institute 

Not Dead Yet 

Organic Acidemia Association 

Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies 

Patient-Led Research Collaborative 

PAVE 

Progress Center for Independent Living 

Progressive Doctors 

RespectAbility 

Restore Unto Holiness Ministries 

Robin Cogan 

Safe Schools for Everyone  

San Diegans for Safe Schools 

Santee Parents for Immunocompromised Children  

Senior and Disability Action 

SPAN Parent Advocacy Network (SPAN) 

The 145th Street Alliance 

The Coelho Center for Disability Law, Policy and Innovation

The Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Action Network (#MEAction) 

The Parents' Place of MD 

Torrey Pines Elementary School Foundation 

True North Research 

United Cerebral Palsy 

Vermont Family Network 

We All Rise 

Well Spouse Association 

World Health Network / Covid Action Group 

World Institute on Disability 

CC: Jeffery Zients, White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator; Xavier Becerra, Secretary  of the Department of Health and Human Services 

i COVID-19 Case Tracker - Autistic Self Advocacy Network (autisticadvocacy.org).
ii Roberts, L., Ives-Rublee, M., & Khattar, R. (2022). “COVID-19 Likely Resulted in 1.2 Million More  Disabled People by the End of 2021—Workplaces and Policy Will Need to Adapt.” Center for American  Progress.
https://www.americanprogress.org/article/covid-19-likely-resulted-in-1-2-million-more-disabled people-by-the-end-of-2021-workplaces-and-policy-will-need-to-adapt/