Medical University Hospital of South Carolina will remove 23 patients from transplant waiting list for failure to get COVID vaccine

Nearly two dozen patients will likely be removed from the organ-transplant waiting list at the Medical University of South Carolina this week for failing to get a COVID-19 vaccine, a spokeswoman for the hospital confirmed on Feb. 1.

The requirement is based on the fact that a lot of people need organ transplants, but organs are scarce. Not everyone who needs one gets one. And transplant centers like MUSC have always prioritized patients who will more likely succeed.

It’s no different during COVID. Transplant recipients are among the most vulnerable patients in the hospital. Recovery — both in the hospital and at home — may take months. And with the virus still running rampant across the country, MUSC’s vaccine requirement is meant to ensure that those who receive life-saving transplant surgery have the best chances of survival.

“MUSC Health is part of a growing number of transplant centers who are making this same requirement, due to the overwhelming evidence of improving patient outcomes post-transplant for those who are vaccinated,” MUSC spokeswoman Heather Woolwine said. “Before declining transplant candidacy, every effort is being made to understand the rationale behind individual vaccine refusal and to reduce barriers or misinformation related to vaccine acceptance.”

MUSC has 1,438 patients on the United Network of Organ Sharing waitlist, Woolwine said. Nearly all of them have complied with the hospital’s vaccine requirement. Of the 41 patients who are not compliant, 18 are in the process of becoming fully vaccinated, she said. Twenty-three have indicated they will not get the vaccine, and therefore will probably be removed from the waiting list sometime this week.

MUSC surgeons perform kidney, heart, lung and liver transplants in Charleston. Prisma Health, which operates hospitals in the Midlands and in the Upstate, intends to eventually offer kidney transplants, but has not performed a transplant yet. Like MUSC, Prisma spokeswoman Tammie Epps said the hospital system will require its transplant patients to get the COVID vaccine.

“As immunosuppression and surgery present a risk to the patient and organs are a scarce resource, patients must meet eligibility requirements to help ensure the greatest possibility of success,” Epps said.

These requirements at MUSC and Prisma — and at several other transplant centers across the country — have become increasingly controversial. Several stories have emerged in recent weeks of transplant candidates being denied a procedure based on their COVID-19 vaccine status.

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Last Edited by NoCap on 02/02/2022 06:09 PM