Western Pennsylvania Hospitals: We will not deny organ transplants to patients who refuse the covid-19 vaccine

Medical providers in Colorado and Washington state have started refusing organ transplants to patients who refuse to be vaccinated against covid-19.

This does not happen in western Pennsylvania, the Tribune-Review has learned.

Neither of the two largest hospital systems and transplant providers in the region links transplant eligibility to covid-19 vaccination status.

“We do not have a policy regarding the covid-19 vaccination requirement for transplant applicants,” UPMC spokeswoman Andrea Kunicky said via email. “UPMC continues its vaccine awareness and awareness efforts and makes vaccines easily and easily accessible to everyone. “

Highmark’s Allegheny Health Network does not have such a policy either, but its doctors and transplant teams “continue to stress the importance of the covid-19 vaccine”, especially for the most elderly. at risk due to underlying conditions such as organ failure and weakened immune system. , according to AHN spokesperson Catherine Clements.

“We strongly encourage all patients we take care of in the transplant program – including those who are expecting an organ donor and those who have received one – to be vaccinated against covid-19,” Clements said. by e-mail. “Currently, the vast majority of patients in our abdominal and cardiovascular transplant programs have heeded this recommendation, and we take every opportunity to strengthen with those who do not have the importance of doing so. “

Colorado State Representative Tim Geitner of R-El Paso County called national attention to the issue of unvaccinated organ recipients earlier this week when he visited the social media to share her outrage after a voter wrote to her that she was going to be denied a kidney transplant by UCHealth because she will not receive a covid vaccine. The woman with end-stage kidney disease and an aligned donor said she shared a letter from UCHealth telling her she had 30 days to receive her first injection or that she would be “taken off the list of transplants from UCHealth. kidney”.

UCHealth denies life-saving treatment – a kidney transplant – to a resident of El Paso County. See my post live on FB @timgeitnercolorado pic.twitter.com/Z2r8D2VY4m

– Tim Geitner (@tgeitner) October 5, 2021

Geitner said in a Facebook Live video that health system officials “were basically saying they were prepared to discriminate against an individual based on their immunization status.” He said he considered the politics “incredibly disgusting” and “unbelievably sad”.

Similar policies are appearing elsewhere, as the delta variant continues to pose a threat and coronavirus disease spreads in places with low vaccination rates.

UW Medicine in Washington on Thursday claimed it implemented a similar policy a few weeks ago. It demands that all transplant recipients be fully vaccinated, unless they have “a specific medical exemption that prevents them” from doing so.

“After a transplant, your immune system is weakened and in a prolonged state of weakness. It also makes you more vulnerable to infections from viruses like covid-19 which can lead to serious illness or death, ”UW Medicine posted in an online explanation of the policy.

Clements said the AHN follows guidelines set by the United Network for Organ Sharing, or UNOS.

“AHN’s transplant programs are committed to providing patients with all the information and advice they need to give them the best chance of having a positive long-term outcome after transplant surgery,” said Clements.

But the nationwide network said it gave providers discretion over specific requirements to remove or add applicants to transplant waiting lists.

A series of other requirements have long been mandatory for transplant candidates, such as adhering to a specific diet, prohibiting drinking alcohol or smoking, and being up to date with other vaccinations. .

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last month that research shows that those who are not fully vaccinated are 10 times more likely to be hospitalized for covid-19 and 11 times more likely to die from it.