Principle:
This policy is based on the 19/1/21 CBER document Updated Information for Blood Establishments Regarding COVID-19 Pandemic and Blood Donation.
Policy:
- There is no COVID-19 laboratory testing requirement for routine blood donor screening.
- Donors must be in good health and meet all blood donor eligibility criteria on the day of donation.
- The blood establishment’s responsible physician must evaluate prospective donors and determine eligibility according to the blood donor criteria.
- Donors with a diagnosis of COVID-19 or who are suspected of having COVID-19 and who had symptomatic disease should refrain from blood donation for at least 14 days after COMPLETE resolution of symptoms.
- Donors who had a positive diagnostic test (RT-PCR SARS-CoV-2 or equivalent) but never developed symptoms, should refrain from blood donation for at least 14 days after the date of the positive test result.
- Donors who are positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies but did not have prior diagnostic testing and never developed symptoms can donate WITHOUT a waiting period and WITHOUT a diagnostic test (RT-PCR).
- Vaccination deferrals are as follows:
- Recipients of nonreplicating, inactivated, or mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines can donate blood WITHOUT a waiting period if #2 above applies.
- Recipients of live attenuated viral COVID-19 vaccines should be deferred for 14 days after receipt of the vaccine.
- Recipients who are uncertain which COVID-19 vaccine was administered, should wait 14 days.
Note that these rules do not address the special case of COVID-19 convalescent plasma donors.
References:
Updated Information for Blood Establishments Regarding the COVID-19 Pandemic and Blood Transfusion, CBER, US FDA, 19/1/21