A North Carolina hospital appears to consider it better to die from kidney failure than contract COVID-19.
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, in Winston-Salem, N.C., reportedly told Burke County resident Chad Carswell: “No vaccine? No transplant.”
His kidney is only operating at about 4%, according to a report from ABC11News, a N.C. network affiliate.
Carswell said he went to Atrium Health and had all kinds of scans done. He was hoping to get a transplant until learning he was required to be vaccinated for COVID-19 prior to the surgery, along with potential kidney donors.
The hospital reportedly said that is its policy. A message to Atrium Health seeking comment was not immediately returned.
The Tar Heel State resident said he shouldn’t be forced to receive a vaccine to get life-saving surgery. Carswell told ABC affiliate WSOC so, in no uncertain terms.
“I was born free, I will die free,” Carswell said. “I’m not changing my mind.” He said he spoke with family and others close to him. Carswell added they know where he stands on the subject.
The hospital explained the policy provides protection for the patient, because transplant patients are at high risk for severe illness if they don’t have pre-existing immunity from COVID-19, the ABC affiliate noted.
“Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist’s policy follows the current standard of care in the United States, which is to vaccinate all patients on waiting lists or being evaluated for transplant,” the hospital said in a statement.
“We understand that some patients may not wish to be vaccinated,” the statement continued. “In this case, patients can opt to be evaluated at another transplant center.”
Data on the website of the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates 73 million reported cases of COVID-19 and 874,000 (rounded up) deaths from the coronavirus. That is a mortality rate of just 1. 2 percent.
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