Colorado hospital system says it will not perform transplants on unvaccinated patients



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A doctor and a patient.

A doctor and a patient. Remko De Waal / ANP / AFP via Getty Images

Colorado’s hospital system, UCHealth, said in order to protect patients, it requires COVID-19 vaccination for transplant recipients and donors “in almost all situations.”

“For transplant patients who contract COVID-19, the death rate ranges from about 20% to over 30%,” UCHealth told CBS Denver in a statement. “This shows the extreme risk COVID-19 poses to transplant recipients after their surgery. In Colorado, 62.05 percent of residents are vaccinated.

Leilani Lutali suffers from stage 5 kidney failure and met her kidney donor, Jaimee Fougner, during a Bible study. Lutali and Fougner are not vaccinated, with Fougner saying she does not want to be vaccinated for religious reasons. In September, UCHealth sent them both a vaccination policy letter, saying they had 30 days to receive their first dose. If they refuse, Lutali and Fougner will be removed from the list of transplants.

“I said I would sign a medical discharge,” Lutali told CBS Denver. “I have to sign a waiver for the transplant itself anyway, freeing them from anything that could go wrong. It’s surgery, it’s invasive. I’m signing a waiver for my life. I don’t know. why can’t I sign a waiver for the COVID shot. ” So far, Lutali and Fougner have not been able to find any other hospital in Colorado that will perform the transplant while they are not vaccinated.

UCHealth said injections are not new to transplant recipients – most are given vaccines, such as MMR and hepatitis B, to increase the chances of a successful transplant.

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