A 31-year-old father of two has been denied a heart transplant by a hospital in the USA and his father says it is because he refuses to have a Covid vaccine.
DJ Ferguson, who has another child on the way, has been taken off the transplant list at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston his father, David, said.
David Ferguson said his son 'does not believe' in the Covid vaccine and having it would go against his 'basic principles, reports the BBC.
A spokesman for Brigham and Women's Hospital told the BBC: "Given the shortage of available organs, we do everything we can to ensure that a patient who receives a transplanted organ has the greatest chance of survival."
They added that the hospital requires "the Covid-19 vaccine, and lifestyle behaviours for transplant candidates to create both the best chance for a successful operation and to optimise the patient's survival after transplantation, given that their immune system is drastically suppressed".
The hospital said there are 100,000 people on waiting lists for organ transplants and many will not receive one within five years because of a shortage.
Mr Ferguson has a hereditary heart condition and has been in hospital since November.
A GoFundMe organised to raise money for Mr Ferguson says he fears the Covid vaccine could cause his heart to swell - cardiac inflammation.
The CDC says transplant recipients should get fully vaccinated.
Dr Arthur Caplan, head of medical ethics at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, told CBS News: "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."
David Ferguson said: "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.
"It's his body. It's his choice."
