Organ transplant patients remain vulnerable as country struggles to reach herd immunity. ‘It’s an act of patriotism to get the vaccine’

CHICAGO –Even though she is fully vaccinated, Barbara Creed can’t yet visit her grandchildren in Texas. Creed is among thousands for whom the vaccine is less effective because she has received an organ transplant. The 67-year-old Oak Park, Illinois, resident has watched the state reopen with some trepidation, as mask mandates for the unvaccinated are on an honor system and the delta variant of the virus circulates in Illinois. People such as Creed with compromised immune systems rely on others to be vaccinated for full protection against the virus. But the country’s march toward herd immunity ...