CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Cleveland Clinic and UH are requiring that both living donors and recipients of an organ transplant be vaccinated prior to the procedure, according to statements released Monday.

Some health experts estimate that transplant recipients’ risk of dying from COVID-19 is as high as 30%, according to press reports.

If patients waiting for an organ from a deceased donor are not vaccinated after that date, they will be made inactive on the United Network for Organ Sharing waiting list, the Clinic said.

UH said that, in light of recent studies pointing to the risk solid organ recipients and living donors face if they contract COVID-19, the UH Transplant Institute also will begin requiring COVID vaccinations for its patient population.

A Colorado-based health system recently said it was not performing organ transplants on patients not vaccinated against COVID-19 in “almost all situations,” press reports said.

The University of Washington medical centers also require transplant patients to be fully vaccinated prior to their procedures unless they have a medical exemption, press reports said.

“UW Medicine has long required patients awaiting a solid organ transplant to be current on all critical vaccinations prior to their procedure,” the health system said.

Transplant centers across the country normally require patients to stop smoking and drinking alcohol, get other vaccinations or pledge to take important medications to make sure their body doesn’t reject the transplant, according to press reports.