The World Blood Donor Day slogan in 2022 will be “Donating Blood is an Act of Solidarity.” It encourages people to join the effort to save lives and focuses on blood donation in order to save the lives and health of many people who are suffering from a range of medical conditions. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that every country requires 1% of its population to have blood units. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic people are afraid to go to hospitals or blood camps because they fear that they might contract the disease.
The pandemic made matters more complicated. Despite all this, it is important that people donate blood. There are many precautions to prevent transmission of Covid-19.
Who Can All Donate Blood During A Pandemic
These are the eligibility criteria for blood and blood components donations for those who have had their Covid-19 vaccine:
- Anyone who has been given a messengerRNA (mRNA), or any other non-infectious vaccine can give immediately.
- If a live attenuated Covid-19 vaccine were create, the time for donor deferral would be most likely 14 days. There have been no live attenuate Covid-19 vaccines anywhere in the world.
Blood Donation Don’ts And Do’s For People Infected With Covid-19
Based on the regulations of blood collection facilities and the demand for Covid-19 Convalescent Plasma, people who have recovered from Covid-19 may be eligible to donate convalescent. Active or prior Covid-19: There have not been cases of transfusion-transmitted infection from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19 infection. Donated blood should not be teste for the virus as it is known that respiratory viruses can not be transmitted via transfusion.
If one of these conditions is met, a positive test of SARS-CoV-2 (antibody or antigen or nucleic acids) or a history with Covid-19 will not be consider exclusions from Blood Donation. A person who is not symptomatic but has had their illness under control for at least 10 days before they donate blood can be eligible (reduced from 14 in the earlier guidance). If a person is not symptomatic, a positive test for the virus (antigen or nucleic acid), it must have been more than 10 calendar days before blood donation.
The FDA recommends that people with Covid-19, even if they have not been confirmed by testing, refrain from donating blood for a period of 10 days.
- Before donating blood, a person must address any symptoms caused by Covid-19.
- Recent close contact with an infected person with Covid-19 was possible.
- Persons currently suffering from any symptoms such as fever or active signs of infection are not eligible to donate.
Although there is no rule that says you have to submit a negative Covid-19 RT-PCR test report in order to give blood, the following rules must be observed:
- The temperature of the donor and all other diagnostic procedures.
- Respect for the Covid-19 protocol, such as masking or sanitizing.
- To determine if a Covid-19 test is necessary, it is advisable to contact the hospital or donation center in advance.
It is important to stress that blood donation does not increase the risk of contracting Covid-19, despite the current pandemic. All safety precautions are taken during blood donation.