Deceased Donor Kidneys Utilization and Discard Rates During COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States

The COVID-19 pandemic created significant disruptions to kidney transplantation in the United States. Particularly in the initial surge, there was a dramatic decrease in deceased donor transplants, a near complete cessation in living donor kidney transplants, and considerable mortality among kidney transplant candidates.1–3 Although some of the significant operational challenges for organ procurement organizations and transplant centers have been described,4 remarkably more deceased donor kidney transplants occurred in 2020 than in any previous year.