This month is National Blood Donor Month, a reminder that a strong blood supply is important to everyone’s health, especially in emergencies. With the region’s supply at a critically low level New York Blood Center (NYBC) put out a call to encourage blood donations this month.
“The region’s blood supply continues to be threatened by low donor turnout and blood drive cancellations due to surging levels of Omicron cases,” the NYBC statement says. “Schools that had begun to reinstate student blood drives are once again canceling, perpetuating the dramatic decline in youth and first-time donors.”
According to the NYBC, prior to the pandemic, 50,000 annual blood donations were made at high schools, but the threat of a return to remote learning is making it nearly impossible for them to commit to hosting blood drives. Blood centers across the country have been suffering from shortages since the start of the pandemic in March of 2020.
“A strong blood supply is essential and can be threatened at any time with emergencies such as inclement weather, which we are currently seeing with the snow storm to our south, and the surge of Omicron cases that we are seeing nationwide,” said Andrea Cefarelli, Senior Executive Director at NYBC. “National Blood Donor Month is a great time to sign up to donate blood and start the year by giving back, especially now as we continue to experience this blood shortage.”
Donating blood is safe and only takes one hour. NYBC is taking extra precautions to help prevent the person-to-person spread of COVID-19. All NYBC staff are vaccinated. People are not eligible to donate if they’re experiencing a cold, sore throat, respiratory infection or flu-like symptoms. You can donate blood regardless of vaccination status. Additional information on donor eligibility and COVID-19 precautions is available here.
Donors can schedule appointments by calling (800) 933-2566 or visiting www.nybc.org.