Lung transplant (LT) has become a viable option for COVID-19 patients suffering from end-stage Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). This analysis sought to describe the early national experience of COVID-19 patients who received LT and compare transplant characteristics and short-term outcomes of COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 ARDS LT recipients. We queried the Organ Procurement and Transplantation database for adults (≥18 years old) receiving LT from January 2009 to March 31, 2022 with diagnoses of COVID-19 or ARDS. We identified 353 COVID-19 and 64 non-COVID-19 ARDS LT recipients. COVID-19 recipients were older (median age: 51, IQR [40-57] years vs. 41 [26-52]; p < 0.001), more predominantly male (78% (n= 274) vs. 55% (n= 35), p < 0.001), and had higher body mass indices (median 27.2 IQR [24.5-30.9] vs. 25.4 [22.1-28.6]; p < 0.01) than non-COVID-19 ARDS recipients. COVID-19 LT recipients were less frequently reliant on ECMO at 72 hours after transplant (26% (n = 80) vs. 31% (n = 15), p < 0.001), and were less frequently dependent on dialysis post-transplant than non-COVID-19 ARDS LT recipients (14% (n = 43) vs. 23% (n = 14); p = 0.01). Survival at 90 days post-transplant was comparable for the non-COVID ARDS (90%, n = 54) and COVID-19 (94%, n = 202) LT recipients with available follow-up (p = 0.17). LT appears to be a viable therapy for COVID-19 patients with end-stage lung disease. COVID-19 LT and non-COVID-19 ARDS LT recipients have comparable 90 days posttransplant survival.