Man reportedly denied heart transplant because he's unvaccinated

BOSTON (TND) — A man fighting for his life is reportedly ineligible for a heart transplant because he refuses to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

DJ Ferguson, 31, was first on the list to get a new heart at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) in Boston, but is now no longer eligible for the transplant due to his vaccination status, CBS Boston reports.

Ferguson is reportedly in desperate need of a heart transplant, but as his father David explains, he "doesn't believe" in the vaccine.

It’s kind of against his basic principles, he doesn’t believe in it. It’s a policy they are enforcing and so because he won’t get the shot, they took him off the list of a heart transplant,” David says to CBS Boston. “My son has gone to the edge of death to stick to his guns and he’s been pushed to the limit.

Brigham and Women’s Hospital claims the vaccine is necessary for the "best chance" at a successful transplant operation and survival afterward.

And like many other transplant programs in the United States – the COVID-19 vaccine is one of several vaccines and lifestyle behaviors required for transplant candidates in the Mass General Brigham system in order to create both the best chance for a successful operation and also the patient’s survival after transplantation," the hospital says in a statement.

BWH also says in its transplant vaccination policy potential patients must also receive seasonal flu and hepatitis B shots. Patients must also "follow other healthy behaviors, and demonstrate they can commit to taking the required medications following transplant," according to the policy.

Speaking with CBS News, Dr. Arthur Caplan, the head of Medical Ethics at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, explains the vaccine is necessary because of how vulnerable people's immune systems are post-transplant surgery.

Post any transplant, kidney, heart whatever, your immune system is shut off," Caplan says. "The flu could kill you, a cold could kill you, COVID could kill you. The organs are scarce, we are not going to distribute them to someone who has a poor chance of living when others who are vaccinated have a better chance post-surgery of surviving.

DJ's father, David, tells CBS Boston he respects his son's decision to refuse the vaccine.

It’s his body. It’s his choice," David Ferguson says. “I think my boy is fighting pretty damn courageously and he has integrity and principles he really believes in and that makes me respect him all the more.

DJ's family is reportedly considering all options, including transferring him to another hospital, but CBS Boston reports DJ may be too weak to move.

“We are aggressively pursuing all options, but we are running out of time,” David Ferguson says.

DJ is the father of two children and has a third on the way, according to CBS Boston.