Coronavirus: from Europe to Asia, alarming drop in blood donations as more get vaccinated

Many countries don’t allow people who have just been vaccinated to give blood, as well as banning those in recovery from Covid-19

Recurrent waves of infections and extension of lockdowns have started taking a bigger toll on donations, menacing urgent operations

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A nurse collects samples at a blood donation centre in Lausanne, Switzerland. File photo: Reuters

Published: 9:03pm, 20 Aug 2021Updated: 9:03pm, 20 Aug 2021

From Seoul to Paris, and Moscow to Bangkok, concerned citizens are lining up for shots as Covid-19 case numbers swell. That may ease pressure on stretched hospitals around the world, but with it comes a hangover – a severe shortage of blood donors.

A number of countries don’t allow people who have just been vaccinated to give blood, as well as banning those in recovery from coronavirus. With others simply staying home as new infections rise, doctors say donor pools have shrunk to alarmingly low levels, menacing urgent operations.

In South Korea, now grappling with record cases, donors can’t give blood for seven days after a Covid-19 shot – and supply is down to just 3.2 days, as of Wednesday, from 6.5 days’ worth this time last year, according to the Korean Red Cross.

The Korean Medical Association (KMA) has launched a blood drive, starting with doctors themselves, warning that patients in need of urgent surgery or transfusions could face emergency situations, KMA spokeswoman Park Soo-hyun said.

“There have been increasing times when hospitals notify us of postponement of surgeries or treatments and crowding due to lack of blood,” Park said.

Recurrent waves of infections, driven by the highly transmissible Delta variant, and extension of lockdowns have started taking a bigger toll on donations, according to a review of the situation in different countries.

In Thailand, confirmed cases topped 1 million on Friday with authorities reporting record increases in deaths in recent weeks.

“Due to the Covid situation, not many people are donating blood so there is not enough and some surgeries have to be postponed,” said Piya Kiatisewi, a bone caner surgeon at Lerdsin Hospital in Bangkok.