HARTFORD, Conn. (WTIC Radio)—The non-profit organization Disability Rights Connecticut (DRCT) has filed a complaint with the U.S. Office for Civil Rights, seeking a federal investigation into the state's age-based COVID-19 vaccine eligibility policy.
According to a statement from DRCT, the organization is "calling on the agency to immediately investigate and issue findings on an expedited basis that Connecticut's new age-based policy for vaccinating state residents constitutes disability discrimination in violation of federal law."
DRCT Executive Director Deborah Dorfman said the age-based policy puts a significant portion of residents with disabilities and underlying medical conditions at the back of the line, particularly those in the youngest age group of 16 to 34 who have to wait until May before they are eligible.
On the flip side, she explained, there will be those who do not have such conditions and are less vulnerable to COVID-19 infection who will be prioritized over those are more vulnerable based on the current policy.
"It's really not taking into account the reality and really having a negative and discriminatory effect on people with disabilities and people who have underlying conditions," Dorfman said.
Under the filed complaint, DRCT is calling for the agency to direct Connecticut to revise the policy so as to prioritize individuals with underlying medical conditions who are at increased risk of COVID-19 infection.
According to Governor Ned Lamont, the age-based approach makes for a simple process with easy tracking metrics for the state and a quicker distribution of the vaccine across the state.
However, Dorfman said easy is not the best approach.
"But merely because it may be easier does not make it right," she said. "And this policy is not only an outlier nationally, it blatantly disregards CDC policy guidelines, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the rights of individuals with disabilities."
DRCT is also calling on the agency to advise the state that it must have a process in place for people with disabilities to request modifications should their condition not be listed on the CDC's list of pre-existing conditions.
"If, for some reason, their particular condition isn't listed on a list, have a process for somebody to ask for a modification, a reasonable modification, of the policy consistent with the Americans with Disabilities act," Dorfman said.
The formal complaint was filed with the agency at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday, February 24.