Special Olympics International hosted a discussion about COVID-19 vaccine questions from the Special Olympics community on Wednesday, September 9th. Special Olympics International hosted this event in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in order to reduce apprehension around the COVID-19 vaccine. The featured panelists who provided answers to questions were:
Dr. Rachel Levine, Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Dr. Alicia Bazzano, Special Olympics’ Chief Health Officer
Loretta Claiborne, Special Olympics’ Chief Inspiration Officer
Watch a video of the discussion here▶️https://bit.ly/COVID19vaccineSOvideo
The United States Government is collaborating on similar events with other organizations to reach as many people in the United States as possible. Special Olympics and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) encourage everyone who is eligible and has access to the COVID-19 vaccine to get vaccinated, but understand that some people with intellectual disabilities are hesitant to get it, and that some parents of children over 12 are hesitant to vaccinate their children. Through this conversation, Special Olympics and HHS hoped to address and ease concerns around vaccine safety, importance, eligibility, effectiveness, and side effects. The end goal was for the audience to feel comfortable getting vaccinated or vaccinating children over 12.