Sandra Santiago
“I’d rather die of kidney failure than get the vaccine, Shamgar said in a phone call with his doctor” –Shamgar Connors, who has stage 5 kidney disease.
Many people have been taken off the transplant list. The reason is that these people are not vaccinated against Covid 19. And many are against the whole concept of getting the vaccine. Those taken off the transplant list are not changing their minds— many would rather die.
At this point without a transplant, there is a possibility that a person will die. Many will not be bullied into the idea of getting vaccinated against their beliefs.
According to Changing America “Hospitals are denying organ transplants to people who are unvaccinated against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Last week, a man was denied a heart transplant as a patient at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. This week, a man in North Carolina was turned down for a kidney transplant because he refused to receive a coronavirus vaccination.” There is no way around needing a vaccine to receive an organ transplant. Hospitals are not bending any rules.
According to Healthline “We have a fair amount of data showing the negative consequences of COVID following a transplant,” Dr. Kapil Saharia, MPH, an assistant professor at the Institute of Human Virology and the chief of Solid Organ Transplant Infectious Diseases Service at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, told Healthline. “Patients who have received a transplanted organ are at significant risk from COVID-19,” said Dan Weaver, a spokesperson for the University of Colorado Hospital, the organ transplant center that denied the woman’s surgery. “Should they become infected, they are at particularly high risk of severe illness, hospitalization, and death.” So, there is strong reasoning for this decision, that contracting Covid could damage the new organ or cause a rejection.
42-year-old, Virginia teacher, father of two and husband, Shamgar Connors, was one of the many that were taken off the transplant list. He has stage 5 kidney disease and this new Kidney was supposed to save his life. According to Inside Edition, Mr. Connors stated “I’d rather die of kidney failure than get the vaccine, Shamgar said in a phone call with his doctor.” He is standing by his decision and he will keep fighting his stage 5 kidney disease.