The second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and the opening of vaccinations for everyone above the age of 18, has become a cause for concern among blood banks in Bengaluru. While blood collection has taken a hit since the onset of the pandemic, this year blood donation drives came to a grinding halt due to the vaccinations, starting from above 45 years and subsequently for all above 18 years of age. Awareness campaigns started by blood banks are encouraging people to donate blood before getting their vaccine doses, to tackle the blood shortage for medical procedures. “With the National Blood Transfusion Council (NBTC) reducing the deferral period to two weeks for blood donation after getting vaccinated, there has been an uptick in collection but there is still a lot of demand to be met continuously,” said Dr Sitalakshmi, Head of Blood Transfusion at St John’s Medical College Hospital.

In an order dated March 5, the NTBC stated that a donor has to wait for 28 days or four weeks to donate blood, after a dose of the vaccine. Patients who recovered from COVID-19 must wait for a minimum of 28 days after full recovery to donate blood. However, following a review meeting, the period now stands revised to two weeks or 14 days for those who have taken live-attenuated vaccines such as Covishield. There is no waiting period for the other COVID-19 vaccines.

Even with more clarity emerging on the situation with regard to the gap between two doses of both Covaxin and Covishield, blood donation drives still remain severely affected. “Blood donation drives haven’t taken place at a pace we used to conduct them earlier. Schools, multinational companies are all still closed, and people are very hesitant to donate. This is causing problems because the need for blood for surgeries and other procedures is still very high,” Deepak Suman of the Lion’s Blood Bank told TNM. He added that awareness has to be increased and more people should come forward to donate blood before they get their vaccine jabs.

While the pandemic has added on to the woes, Dr Tricha Kulhalli, Consultant Pathologist, Specialist Hospital Bangalore said that blood shortage remains a larger issue in the country with more than 80% of India's blood supply coming from voluntary non-remunerated blood donors. “As the World Health Organisation (WHO) norm, prior to the pandemic there was a shortage of 1.9 million units (or 15%) of blood in India. It is crucial that healthy people continue to donate blood so that needy patients can have access to the blood products they need,” she added. Most people in good health who are aged between 18 and 65 and weigh a minimum of 50 kgs can donate blood.