What you should know
- The organization of the Blood Donation Center in New York, New York Blood Center (NYBC), launched an initiative to increase blood donations during the pandemic.
- The initiative was born because, according to the organization, the shortage in donations can be dangerous due to the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic during the winter.
- People interested in donating can make appointments for donation centers.
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NEW YORK – Due to the ravages that COVID-19 has left and continues to leave, New York has reported a shortage in the number of blood donations in the State. That is why the organization Blood Donation Center in New York, New York Blood Center (NYBC), launched an initiative to increase blood donations during the pandemic.
The initiative is carried out in conjunction with area hospitals, including NYC Health + Hospitals, Northwell Health, NewYork-Presbyterian, Weill Cornell Medicine, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Mount Sinai Health System, Montefiore Health System and Catholic Health Services on Long Island .
The initiative was born because, according to the organization, the shortage in donations can be dangerous due to the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic during the winter.
The New York health system requires 1,500 donations per day to treat patients including trauma victims, newborn babies, their mothers, or cancer patients.
Before the pandemic, donors could go through community blood drives at convenient locations, but because nearly all high schools, colleges, offices, and other community groups have had to cancel their blood drive due to the COVID-19, donations decreased.
The alternative now for blood donors is to schedule appointments for donation centers; however, at this time donations are at only 65% of the levels given before the pandemic, well below what is needed by area hospitals and patients, the organization says.
“The whole rationale for the way people donate blood has changed,” said Andrea H. Cefarelli, executive director of the New York Blood Center. “This is an incredibly challenging time for our communities,” he added.
Factors contributing to the shortage of blood donations are:
– High schools and colleges account for 75,000 donations each school year, yet nearly all of these students and first-time donors will not donate this fall or spring semester.
– Remote learning is affecting donations from parents and youth as families try to balance work and school.
– Public service, hospital and government workers are not donating as often as before COVID-19.
For this reason, the initiative seeks that people decide to make an appointment to go to a center to donate.
These are the biosecurity measures that the centers are taking for people who want to donate blood:
- Donors must wear a mask or face covering
- Donors’ temperatures will be taken.
- The donor must be 14 days without symptoms if they have had COVID-19
- They cannot donate if they have a positive test or experienced symptoms of COVID-19 in the last 14 days
- They cannot donate if they currently have quarantine restrictions coming from the States that are part of the list
