Woman refused heart transplant due to COVID-19 vaccine status
despite having a medical exemption
A Melbourne mother in need of a new heart can't get on the transplant waiting list because she refuses to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
In 2020, Vicki Derderian had severe heart failure and had to have a Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) surgically implanted to help pump blood throughout her body.
She was hospitalised for months undergoing rehabilitation and has only recently been deemed healthy enough to undergo heart surgery should a suitable donor organ become available.
But Vicki chose not get the COVID-19 vaccine because of potential complications she believes it could cause to her condition.
Under Victoria's Department of Health and Human Services, this means Vicki is ineligible to be put on the transplant waiting list, something she wants the government to change.
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