In Pittsburgh, people have to show proof of a COVID-19 vaccination to work at Google, attend the theater, take college classes and eat in certain restaurants.
They do not have to show proof of vaccination to receive an organ transplant.
This isn’t completely standard practice, however. Some medical providers in at least two other states, Colorado and Washington, have denied organ transplants to those who refuse to comply with an order to be vaccinated, unless they have a specific medical exemption.
There has been political and public outcry against what could be cast, on its face, as a heartless policy. Hospitals are forcing a choice between likely death or taking the jab.
But there’s a stronger reason for insisting on vaccinations for transplant patients than for patients in most other subcategories.
A majority of people who benefit from a transplant face severe, life-threatening illnesses.
They are typically required to take immunosuppressants to ensure that their bodies will not perceive the new organs as foreign bodies and reject them.
This means their immune system will be compromised. It will be weakened. Transplant recipients are always at greater risk of catching viral infections, and with a highly communicable disease like COVID-19 continuing to spread through communities, a higher chance of death absolutely enters into the calculation of who should receive an organ.
It may seem morbid, but these sorts of calculations are endemic to the medical field. Patients at times must wait years for a compatible organ. Many don’t live long enough to receive a transplant.
It’s the patient’s body and the patient’s choice. But a transplant literally involves putting a lifesaving bit of someone else inside a patient, and this is a zero-sum game. An organ that goes to one person can’t go to someone else.
Let’s consider this scenario: Two people are compatible for the same organ. One has demonstrated a willingness to care for his or her body and life by vaccinating against a disease that has killed hundreds of thousands. The other has not but is atop the list for a transplant.
Is the responsible choice to give the organ to the person who has the highest chance of survival or the person who was first on the list?
Different hospital systems are answering such questions in different ways. Pittsburgh isn’t making such a distinction — yet.
Maybe that’s the right call. For patients on the list who are able to receive a vaccination, however, the answer should be easy — get vaccinated for the best chance of living.
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