Patient removed from heart transplant list for refusing Covid-19 vaccine

A Boston-area hospital said it will not perform a heart transplant on a patient who refuses to get a Covid-19 vaccination.

DJ Ferguson, 31, was previously prioritized for a heart transplant at Brigham and Women’s hospital, but is no longer eligible as he refuses to get vaccinated, said Ferguson’s family, according to a report by CBS Boston.

“It’s kind of against his basic principles – he doesn’t believe in it,” said David Ferguson, his father. “It’s a policy they are enforcing and so, because he won’t get the shot, they took him off the list [for] a heart transplant.”

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Brigham and Women’s explained its reasoning in a statement: “Like many other transplant programs in the United States – the Covid-19 vaccine is one of several vaccines and lifestyle behaviors required for transplant candidates in the Mass General Brigham system in order to create both the best chance for a successful operation and also the patient’s survival after transplantation.”

Other medical experts have declared their support of the hospital’s policy, noting that the immune system is extremely weak after a transplant, making vaccinations all the more important.