Woman Denied Kidney Transplant Because She’s Not Vaccinated

By Newsmax
Posted on 10/07/21 | News Source: Newsmax

A woman whose kidney transplant was only months away is looking for somewhere she can have the procedure after they learned that the Colorado-based health system UCHealth is denying coverage in “almost all situations” for organ transplants for patients and living donors who have not had their COVID-19 vaccinations.

Leilani Lutali, who suffers from stage 5 renal failure, told CBS4 in Denver that she got a letter on Sept. 28 from UCHealth informing her that the University of Colorado Hospital’s transplant team has listed her as inactive on the transplant waiting list because she and her donor did not have their shots.

The letter said Lutali has 30 days to start the vaccination series, and if she refuses to get the shots, she’ll be removed from the kidney transplant list until she gets her shots, at which time she’d be reactivated, depending on her health condition at the time.

Lutali told the news station that it was confirmed at the end of August that she and donor Jaimee Fougner, who she met 10 months ago, would not need their COVID-19 shots for the procedure.