With collection disrupted by the pandemic, blood stocks have been below the safety threshold for several days.
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It’s nothing less than a situation of“vital emergency”. L’French Blood Establishment (EFS) alerted to the glaring lack of blood supplies to meet transfusion needs, before launching a call for donations on Tuesday, February 8. “The stock of blood products has been below the safety threshold and has been for several days”, warned the EFS. He specifies : “70,000 bags of red blood cells are now in reserve when 100,000 are needed”.
According to the public establishment, the explanation is to be sought on the side of the “impacts generated by the Covid (cancellations of collections in companies and universities, lower mobilization of donors, difficulties in recruiting medical personnel)”. The fifth wave has also caused many donors and EFS staff to self-isolate, disrupting forecasts.
The EFS therefore calls for the generosity of donors, and recalls that “neither the health pass nor the vaccination pass are necessary” to contribute, always respecting barrier gestures. Those who have shown symptoms of Covid-19 “must wait 14 days after symptoms disappear to donate blood or 14 days after testing positive”, at one of the collection points listed on the dondesang.efs.sante.fr website or on the Don de sang app. The government also recently announced that homosexuals will soon be able to donate blood without a period of abstinence.