The declare: Red Cross says folks vaccinated in opposition to COVID-19 can not donate plasma
A scarcity of blood drives amid the coronavirus pandemic has induced a blood plasma scarcity throughout the nation, however some have taken to social media to say these vaccinated in opposition to COVID-19 aren’t eligible to donate.
The declare follows comparable posts that surfaced in the starting of May, which falsely claimed the Japanese Red Cross Society stopped accepting blood donations from vaccinated people.
“The American Red Cross says you cannot donate Blood Plasma if you’ve had the vaccine, because the vaccine wipes out the body’s natural antibodies,” reads a May 22 Facebook submit with about 3,000 shares.
Accompanying the textual content is a screengrab of a purported information broadcast with the title: “Red Cross needs blood donors but those vaccinated cannot donate plasma.”
Similar variations shared extensively on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram contribute to debunked falsehoods surrounding the security and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines.
None of the social media customers returned USA TODAY’s requests for remark.
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Donated plasma – the major part of blood containing water, vitamins and proteins the physique wants – is used for treating emergency burns and growing therapies for uncommon immune problems. But vaccination standing does not influence anybody’s eligibility to donate plasma, and it additionally does not hurt the immune system, the American Red Cross and consultants say.
Vaccines encourage antibodies
Vaccines on the whole do not have the means to override or do away with pre-existing antibodies, mentioned Matthew Frieman, affiliate professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
“There is no precedence for a vaccine to ‘wipe out’ antibodies made from infection with a pathogen,” he informed USA TODAY by way of e mail. “Vaccination can certainly boost antibodies that are present from the infection, and only for the protein in the vaccine… This isn’t wiping out any other antibodies that are present.”
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And the antibodies from a vaccinated individual do not stay without end in the recipient receiving their blood or plasma – at the least one or two months, Frieman mentioned. This short-term, passive immunity is the scientific reasoning behind giving COVID-19 sufferers plasma for restoration and to stop extreme sickness, however how clinically useful it truly has been is unsure.
COVID-19 vaccinated folks can donate plasma
Historically, blood and blood product donations have been topic to strict restrictions and deferral intervals to ensure no infectious, transmissible illness enters the nationwide blood provide.
These restrictions apply to male donors who’ve had intercourse with different males, or MSM, feminine donors who’ve intercourse with an MSM, folks with piercings and tattoos, and individuals who have traveled to malaria-endemic areas.
Restrictions additionally apply to a number of different illnesses equivalent to HIV/AIDS, anybody beforehand contaminated with the Ebola virus or anybody with energetic tuberculosis.
For these vaccinated, deferral intervals can apply relying on the sort of vaccine. Hepatitis B vaccine recipients have to attend 21 days after their shot earlier than donating blood, and people vaccinated with the dwell shingles vaccine (which makes use of a weakened type of the varicella-zoster virus that causes the sickness) have a deferral interval of as much as 4 weeks with the American Red Cross.
But for anybody vaccinated with any of the COVID-19 pictures approved in the U.S. – specifically, Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson – there aren’t any deferral intervals constraining blood or plasma donation. If the vaccine was obtained abroad or the model unknown, the wait time might then be two weeks, in keeping with a joint assertion launched on April 16 by the American Association of Blood Banks, America’s Blood Centers and the American Red Cross.
Donors must be in a very good state of well being and symptom-free, mentioned Katie Wilkes, a spokeswoman for the American Red Cross, in an e mail to USA TODAY.
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And at the time of donation, the vaccinated will probably be requested which kind of shot they obtained, and they’re additionally inspired to deliver their vaccination card to the assortment website, in keeping with the April 16 assertion.
The on-line posts confuse broad eligibility necessities with these for people who find themselves giving convalescent plasma, which is collected from somebody who has recovered from a illness; it’s used to deal with infections by way of the supply of antibodies. COVID-19 vaccine recipients can not at present donate convalescent plasma via the Red Cross.
While Feb. 11 FDA steerage states vaccinated folks can donate convalescent plasma — if that they had coronavirus signs, and obtained an FDA-approved constructive take a look at outcome for the virus — the Red Cross says the group continues to be “evaluating the feasibility and timeline to implement this complex update.”
Our score: False
The declare that COVID-19 vaccine recipients can not donate plasma to the Red Cross is FALSE, primarily based on our analysis. The Red Cross confirmed that it’s accepting blood and plasma donations from individuals who have obtained a U.S.-authorized COVID-19 vaccine, and donors would not have to attend to offer blood after receiving the vaccine. Taking a COVID-19 vaccine doesn’t hinder an individual’s different antibodies.
Our reality examine sources:
NPR, May 21, Another Shortage Caused By The Pandemic: Blood Plasma
University of Rochester Medical Center, accessed May 25, What Is Plasma?
WebMD, Aug. 25, 2020, Plasma
Matthew Frieman, May 25, Email interview with USA TODAY
Infectious Diseases Society of America, April 30, Convalescent Plasma
Kaiser Health News, March 22, The Hype Has Faded, however Don’t Count Out Convalescent Plasma in Covid Battle
Katie Wilkes, May 23, Email interview with USA TODAY
American Society for Hematology Clinical News, Oct. 1, Rewriting the Rules of Blood Donation
USA TODAY, April 2, 2020, FDA eases restrictions on blood donations from homosexual and bisexual males throughout coronavirus pandemic
American Red Cross, accessed May 25, Eligibility Criteria: Alphabetical
American Red Cross, April 16, Joint Statement: Blood Donation Concerns Rise as Country Enters New Phase of the Pandemic April 16, 2021
U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Feb. 11, Investigational COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Guidance for Industry
American Red Cross, accessed May 22, COVID-19 Vaccine Blood Donation Guide for Donors
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Our reality examine work is supported partly by a grant from Facebook.
This article initially appeared on USA TODAY: Fact examine: Vaccinated folks can donate plasma to the Red Cross
