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[title]Victoria is expected to retire lockdowns forever once 70 per cent of our state’s eligible population is fully vaccinated. But this doesn’t mean that we’re close to eradicating the virus, and in fact, means quite the opposite: the world must prepare to live with Covid-19 and its mutations for the foreseeable future.
If you’re double-jabbed and able-bodied, approaching the end of what has been the longest lockdown in the world probably has you jumping for joy. But if you are immunocompromised or live with disabilities, the feelings might be a little bit more complicated.
The pandemic and lockdown have resulted in losing out on important health services including regular health checks, disruption to treatment and difficulty accessing support services due to overwhelming demand. An end to lockdown will mean resumed but still high-risk access to these services. It's worth noting that those with cancer who contract Covid-19 are twice as likely to have severe symptoms and require hospital treatment.
“We need to ensure we do everything possible to help vulnerable people, including those with cancer, to be vaccinated before restrictions are eased,” says Todd Harper, the CEO of Cancer Council Victoria. “Once lockdowns lift, we expect increased demands on our healthcare system.”
On top of being vaccinated, Harper encourages those at-risk to continue to take steps to reduce their risk of infection, such as physical distancing, hand hygiene and use of masks.
Dr Mark Brown, a Melbourne academic who lives with a genetic neuromuscular condition and who has been a lifelong power wheelchair user, didn’t think there would be any lockdowns at all in the early days of the global pandemic.
“I assumed that able-bodied people could never and would never be able to lock down to this extent. My expectations for society were so low. I thought we’d all get it in April of 2020 and I’d be dead by now,” says Brown, who has since received two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. “Now I’m like, thank you Victorians for locking down and buying us time to get vaccinated. And I feel like it’s fair enough that they want to get back to their lives.”
Brown shares a home with his partner, Claire, who lives with cerebral palsy and is also a power wheelchair user, where they’re visited by nurses and personal care assistants throughout the day. In some ways, the lockdown has been good for them. With many people working in hospitality or retail suddenly finding themselves out of work, Brown says there was an influx of people looking into working in the disability care industry.
However, both are at higher risk of hospitalisation and death from the virus, so they’ve taken numerous precautions to protect themselves. These include making bottles of hand sanitiser and boxes of masks and gloves available throughout the apartment, requiring staff to fill out a Google form to list any symptoms they may be feeling and insisting that their staff is vaccinated.
“Everyone is going to get exposed and everyone is going to get it, so [we thought,] well, what can we do?” says Brown. “That’s why we’re going all out with the precautions.”
Brown says he’d love for us to wait until we reach much higher vaccination rates, have more confidence in the efficacy of antiviral drugs and have had the opportunity to distribute booster shots before reopening. However, he recognises that Victorians have put up with a lot already and has a lot of sympathy for businesses and those struggling with their mental health.
“If we were not able to get our vaccine despite trying, and the Victorian government opened up before we had a chance, I think we’d be really pissed off,” says Brown. “Now, I feel protected enough from my vaccine.”