A US hospital has denied a patient a heart transplant, at least in part because he has not been vaccinated against Covid-19.

DJ Ferguson, 31, is in dire need of a new heart, but a Boston hospital has removed him from its list, said the patient's father, David.

He clarified that the vaccine against Covid-19 is against “his son's basic principles and he does not believe in it.”

The hospital announced that it was following its own policy. In a statement to the BBC, the health facility said that “in view of the shortage of organs, we are doing everything possible to ensure that the patient who receives an organ transplant has the best chance of survival.”

A hospital spokesman said that the hospital requires “the Covid-19 vaccine and the lifestyle of transplant candidates to create the best chance of successful surgery and optimize patient survival after transplantation due to the fact that their immune system is severely compromised.”

Carefully selected words in the opinion of the medical institution may point to other factors behind the decision to refuse the transplant of the unvaccinated patient, but details are not commented on for reasons of confidentiality.

/BNR

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