Worst emergency blood shortage since 2015

The American Red Cross recently issued a public call to action due to a plummeting national inventory of blood donations amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The Red Cross is now facing an emergency blood and platelet shortage. Blood donor turnout has reached the lowest levels of the year as many have delayed giving amid a return to the workplace and in-person learning, as well as a recent surge in COVID-19 cases across the country due to the delta variant,” Jodi Sheedy, senior director of Biomedical Communications at the Red Cross, told Fox News.

“This is particularly concerning as fall is usually a time when the blood supply rebounds after summer shortages,” Sheedy wrote. “We must collect 10,000 additional blood products each week over the next month for the blood supply to recover and meet hospital and patient needs – which is why we are reaching out to the public for help today.”

In a September 27 release, the Red Cross wrote that blood supply typically returns from summer lows after children go back to school, leaving their parents more time to donate – but that is reportedly not the case this year.

Surging hospital admissions and blood drive cancellations blamed on the pandemic have decreased blood supply to alarming levels, the organization said.- READ MORE