You can donate blood after COVID-19 vaccination

With the announcement of a third COVID-19 vaccine being approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, blood donation organizations want the public to know that receiving the vaccine does not affect your eligibility to give blood.

Donors who receive any of the approved COVID-19 vaccines can donate blood immediately, with no waiting period, according to The Blood Connection, a Greenville-founded nonprofit blood center that provides blood products to more than 70 hospitals in the Carolinas and Georgia.

The FDA has recommended that whoever has received the Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Moderna vaccines (including during a clinical trial period) can donate blood. Blood donors can give blood after receiving the vaccine as long as they feel healthy and well to donate.

Other than the addition of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, there have been no changes to vaccine protocol for blood donors. These rules apply for the first or second shot of the vaccine. TBC will continue to offer COVID-19 antibody testing for all blood donations.

Local hospitals' needs change on a daily basis, which is why it is important that blood centers have a healthy stockpile of all blood types. TBC says donors can give after recovering from COVID-19 as long as they are 14 days symptom free.

There is a TBC center in Florence and mobile drives currently scheduled in Florence, Camden and Columbia. For more information on donating blood, go to https://thebloodconnection.org/.