NY Blood Center Makes Plea For Donations In Face Of 'Tripledemic'

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — The holidays are already a precarious time for blood supplies, but officials say that concerns over a growing public health threat are making the need for donors even more urgent this year.

The New York Blood Center (NYBC) is calling for blood donors amid the so-called 'tripledemic' of RSV, flu and COVID-19 and the upcoming holidays season, threatening an already unstable blood supply. Blood bank officials have, however, found a festive way to help solve the mounting holiday crisis.

The NYBC is celebrating the holidays by providing socks to every donor at all 19 area donor centers. The promotion will be available from Monday, December 19, to Wednesday, January 4. The blood bank says the unique holiday gift is a way for the NYBC to thank their generous donors.

Every December, school breaks, family vacations and travel all contribute to making blood donations less of a priority in regular donors' busy schedules. The increase in cases of RSV, flu and COVID-19 are creating new concern, as the fear of getting sick is causing donors with upcoming appointments to cancel, creating extra volatility in the blood supply, officials report.

"The winter months are always a difficult time to maintain our blood supply, but new challenges like rising RSV, Flu and COVID-19 cases is making the need to build our inventory even greater," New York Blood Center VP Andrea Cefarelli explained. "We are encouraging all eligible, and especially first-time donors, to come out and spread holiday cheer with the greatest gift of all, lifesaving blood donations. We’ll even throw in a pair of socks to say thank you."

Hospitals and patients rely upon a steady flow of volunteer donors to receive life-saving blood donations, but the past two years have brought chronic blood shortages nationwide. The region’s blood supply currently stands at a 1-3-day level, which is well below the ideal level of 5-7-days, according to the NYBC.

Donating blood only takes about an hour. The NYBC is taking extra precautions to help prevent the person-to-person spread of COVID-19. As always, people are not eligible to donate if they’re experiencing a cold, sore throat, respiratory infection or flu-like symptoms.

People can donate blood regardless of vaccination status. Additional information on donor eligibility and COVID-19 precautions is available here.

To make an appointment, donors can call 1-800-933-2566 or visit nybc.org. Can’t donate blood? You can still support NYBC’s mission by texting 'NYBC' to '20222' to give $25.

About New York Blood Center: Founded in 1964, New York Blood Center (NYBC) is a nonprofit organization that is one of the largest independent, community-based blood centers in the world. NYBC, along with its operating divisions Community Blood Center of Kansas City, Missouri (CBC), Innovative Blood Resources (IBR), Blood Bank of Delmarva (BBD), and Rhode Island Blood Center (RIBC), collect approximately 4,000 units of blood products each day and serve local communities of more than 75 million people in the Tri-State area (NY, NJ, CT), Mid Atlantic area (PA, DE, MD, VA), Missouri and Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, Rhode Island, and Southern New England. NYBC and its operating divisions also provide a wide array of transfusion-related medical services to over 500 hospitals nationally, including Comprehensive Cell Solutions, the National Center for Blood Group Genomics, the National Cord Blood Program, and the Lindsley F. Kimball Research Institute, which — among other milestones — developed a practical screening method for hepatitis B as well as a safe, effective and affordable vaccine, and a patented solvent detergent plasma process.