On Requiring Covid-19 vaccination for prospective transplant recipients.
- bjmears1
- Oct 6, 2021
- 1 min read
This is disturbing. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/10/05/uchealth-transplant-unvaccinated/
But consider: There are many people needing transplants. There is a shortage of organs available for transplant. Transplant rejection/failure is far more common than we would like despite the care provided. Most organs can go to multiple different patients and some criteria must be used to decide which patient will receive it. The organ transplant teams have a duty to maximize the chance the available organs will be successful in transplant. We know immunocompromised patients such as transplant patients do poorly with Covid-19 disease. We place other restrictions on those who need transplants. (In various cases, they must stop drinking alcohol, smoking, etc.)
Wanting prospective transplant patients to have vaccination is understandable.
Do transplant patients have a duty to those who have sacrificed to provide an organ for them (whether living or deceased donor) to maximize the chances of successful transplant? Do they have any duty to the other people waiting in line for transplant?
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