The National Blood Transfusion Council (NBTC) on Wednesday issued new guidelines for blood donation among vaccinated individuals. The new guidelines state that citizens who receive either of the two approved vaccines in India can now donate blood 14 days after their first vaccine dose.
This is in line with the deferral criteria for coronavirus vaccines of 7 to 14 days that is followed by most nations across the globe.
However, the deferral period in India was previously set at 28 days. Officials said that this could have led to a crisis in the blood banks as most donors are within the 18 to 44 age bracket who are now allowed to be vaccinated. Keeping this in mind, the NBTC has decided to slash the deferral period by 14 days.
Dr Harish Warbhe, Medical Director of Lifeline Blood Bank said, “It’s a welcome move to reduce the deferral period. Blood banks across the country were asking for it.”
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“Though you can donate blood after 14 days now, I appeal to all eligible donors to make it a practice of donating blood before their first jab. Otherwise also, you cannot donate blood for 3 months after one donation,” Dr Warbhe added.
Simply put, eligible individuals can now donate blood 14 days after their first vaccine shot. This applies to both Covaxin and Covishield which are the two vaccines approved for use in the country.
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