NEW BERN, N.C. (WITN) - Eastern North Carolina is currently dealing with an urgent need for blood and convalescent plasma donations according to The Blood Connection. To help fill some of that need CarolinaEast Medical Center in New Bern hosted a community blood drive.
Ellen Kirtner with the Blood Connection says they are in urgent need for donations from all blood types, and they are also in serious need of convalescent plasma. “Convalescent plasma is plasma of those who have tested positive for COVID-19 and they can donate their plasma to those currently battling COVID-19 right now,” said Kirtner.
The blood drive was held next to the CarolinaEast Surgery Center on Tuesday. Brandy Popp, Public Relations Manager for the hospital says hosting blood drives is important for the hospital.
“The blood stays local for CarolinaEast Medical Center and for our patients specifically so when there is a shortage obviously it directly affects us, so for our employees to get out and do their part and for the community to support us and our patients in that way it’s really important,” said Popp.
While trying to get more blood donations the question about if you can donate blood if you have received a COVID-19 vaccine has come up, and the FDA says the answer is yes. For anyone who received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, there is no wait time on when you can give blood, but you can’t donate convalescent plasma.
For the hospital, that was good news as they look to keep their blood supply up. “There are people out there getting the vaccine now, we’ve had several of our employees get it and it’s completely safe for them to still donate blood and we love for them to continue doing that,” said Popp.
The Blood Connection says they are taking all necessary COVID-19 precautions to keep everyone safe, and if you are interested in donating you can also get a free COVID-19 antibody test.
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