Oh my, two dispassionate posts in a row - I haven't been this level headed since I said most* voting laws won't change the outcome. Note, this post is not meant as a knock to Fox News, Mr. Collins or the thousands of people that refuse the vaccine for a myriad of reasons.
Shamgar Connors has been pulled off the kidney transplant list because he will not get the Covid vaccine. He is now a bit of a Conservative hero, appearing on Fox News, Newsmax, and various podcasts. link He is seen as a brave soul to millions. He seems like a stubborn and proud man to me.
Because if we actually listen to the Doctors and Medical Board, there is a rational reason for taking him off the list. Once you get a new kidney, the body has to reduce it's immunity through chemicals so that your body does not reject the new kidney (or other transplanted organ). If you reduce the body's immunity, you also remove the ability to fight off Covid.
Taking the vaccine would helps the body survive the transplant. And the doctors believe that if you are not going to take the vaccine, then you are refusing the take care of the new kidney and your body. The patient now has a massive vulnerability and their odds of not surviving afterwards go up astoundingly.
For the people who provide a kidney for transplants, why should a kidney go to someone who doesn't take care of it, versus someone who does. This is also the open stance of the medical board. Because the medical profession's goal is to save lives, not work with someone who actively puts themselves at risk AND removes the possibility for another person to successfully live with a transplant.
Now Shamgar's point is that "nobody can say the vaccine is 100% safe". Which is true, but is even more true that a kidney fucking transplant is not 100% safe, or even 75% safe. He has stage 5 kidney disease that is terminal and been on the waitlist for 3 years. He has CHOSEN to be booted from the transplant list.
It is his choice to not get vaccinated. Just as it the hospital's choice (actually the medical board's choice) to take him off the transplant list. He has chosen to put his life in known and absolute danger, rather than taking a vaccine that over a billion people have taken safely.
It is also his choice to leave his two children fatherless and his wife a widow. It is a sad situation where a man chooses to be a martyr rather than a father and a husband. Particularly since a shot would have allowed him to get the transplant. But, ultimately, it is his choice. If you reverse the situation, I would forgo the Covid vaccine - if it meant I would definitely have a chance to live longer with my husband.
He has not been "denied" a transplant or a place on the waiting list. He has chosen to remove himself after being told the consequences of his decision.
* In this sense, MOST does not include those laws in states that allow the legislature to overturn the popular vote.
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