On May 23, Facebook user Goria Shova published a post stating that the American Red Cross refused blood donation from vaccinated people. According to the post, the blood and DNA of vaccinated people are “spoiled”.
The American Red Cross does not ban blood and plasma donations from patients vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine if the donor is feeling well and knows which vaccine was administered. The claim of the author of the post about vaccine “spoiling” DNA is also false.
The webpage of the American Red Cross states that the organization continues to receive blood donations whether a donor is vaccinated or not. It’s also explained that a vaccinated individual has to be feeling well and be symptom-free in order to donate. S/he also has to know which vaccine was administered because different vaccines have a different waiting period for blood donation. For example, there is no waiting period between vaccination and blood donation for people who have been vaccinated with AstraZeneca, Janssen/J&J, Moderna, Novavax, and Pfizer. Whereas, in the case of inactivated COVID-19 vaccines such as Sinopharm and Sinovac a person has to wait for two weeks before donating blood.
The Red Cross Spokesperson Jessica Merrill commented to Politfact and noted that the donation process for a vaccinated person is the same as usual. Donating blood takes about one hour, and includes registration, a confidential questionnaire about their health history and places traveled, and checks of temperature, hemoglobin, blood pressure, and pulse.
Similar to other vaccines such as measles, mumps or influenza, the COVID-19 vaccine is designed to generate an immune response to help protect an individual from illness, but vaccine components themselves are not found within the bloodstream – Said Jessica Merrill
Moreover, the claim that vaccines “spoil” human DNA is also false. COVID-19 vaccines cannot alter human DNA since they cannot reach cell nucleolus or affect DNA.
Read more on this topic:
Coronavirus vaccines – myths and reality
Side effects from Pfizer and Moderna are rare, while RNA technology is safe
Is it Recommended to Freeze Sperm before Being Vaccinated?
Myths about blood transfusion from vaccinated individuals have been disseminated earlier too. Read more on this topic:
Is It Safe to Transfuse Vaccinated Person’s Blood and Is It OK to Have Sex with Them?
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