A 12-year-old girl from Indiana, who is distantly related to Vice President JD Vance, has been denied a place on a heart transplant waiting list due to her lack of vaccination against COVID-19 and the flu, according to her family.

Adaline Deal, a relative of the Vice President through marriage to his half-siblings, was born with two rare heart conditions that her parents, Janeen and her husband, anticipated would eventually necessitate a transplant. Janeen remarked on this situation in an interview with The Cincinnati Enquirer.

Adaline, who was adopted from China at the age of four, has received treatment at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital for nearly a decade, and her family had hoped she would receive her transplant there.

However, the hospital mandates vaccinations for transplant patients and refused to make an exception, even after being informed that doing so contradicts the family’s religious beliefs as nondenominational Christians.

“I was shocked. It seems that saving my daughter’s life isn’t the priority,” Janeen stated about the hospital’s choice to exclude her daughter from the list.

Janeen expressed her belief that vaccines pose risks, stating that she and her husband decided not to vaccinate Adaline after feeling a spiritual conviction about their choice.

Vaccination against preventable diseases is strongly advised for transplant recipients, as they are at an increased risk of infections.

Adaline suffers from both Ebstein’s anomaly and Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome, putting her at an elevated risk of severe complications, including death, if she were to contract COVID-19. Dr. Camille Kotton, the clinical director of transplant and immunocompromised host infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital, explained that the first year post-transplant is critical, as patients face the highest risk of infection during that period.

“Patients undergoing transplants are at a lifelong risk for severe illness, and we continue to see fatalities from COVID-19 among transplant recipients,” Dr. Kotton noted.

Despite the risks, Janeen believes that her family, which includes their 11 other children, will be fine post-transplant without the vaccine. “We’ll face whatever comes our way,” she said, affirming her stance: “I cannot allow this vaccine into her body based on our convictions.”

A spokesperson for Cincinnati Children’s declined to verify Adaline’s status but emphasized that the hospital’s clinical decisions are based on scientific research and established guidelines from the National Institutes of Health.

“We collaborate closely with families to create tailored care plans that prioritize the safest and most effective treatment,” remarked Bo McMillan, the spokesperson.

Currently, Adaline’s family is seeking alternative transplant centers that won’t require vaccination, and they have launched a GoFundMe campaign that has raised over $50,000 as of Wednesday morning.