Mangaluru: Many blood banks across Karnataka are running low on blood and with the surge in covid cases and introduction of vaccination, the anxiety has increased. “According to government guidelines, people above the age of 18 are to be vaccinated starting from May 1 and before that I urge the youth to voluntarily donate blood,” said Abdul Razak Salmara, secretary of Blood Donors Mangaluru.

One cannot donate blood after 60 days of taking the vaccination and since experts say that delaying the second dose is better for immunity, the no-blood donation period gets extended. Abdul Razak says that since the Muslims are fasting due to Ramzan, hospitals like Father Muller Medical College, Yenepoya Medical College and KMC Hospital operating in Mangaluru have extended their blood donation time till 8:00pm. “Earlier it was 5: 30 pm but with extended time, Muslims can break their fast and donate blood,” he said.

Blood Donors Mangaluru who is celebrating their 8th anniversary on April 28 is going to organize an awareness camp to encourage youth and other eligible to donate blood before their inoculation in order to avoid the acute shortage of Blood which is bound to increase by the next month. “Through this awareness camp, we hope that youth come forward and voluntarily donate blood till April 31,” he said. In this awareness campaign, they will focus on spread the information about the no donation phase after vaccination and its effect on the Blood banks.

“The government is vaccinating people above 18 amid the wide spread of covid,” said Suman Hegde, pathologist and blood bank officer at PG hospitals IMA lifeline blood bank, Sirsi Uttar Kannada dist. After the first and the second dose of the vaccination, the person should not donate blood for further 4 weeks, she said. “Hence, after taking the first jab of the vaccine the person is not eligible to donate blood for two and half months,” she added.

Suman pointed out that the highest blood donors are from the 18-45 age group. Hence, she urged the people in this age group to donate blood before taking a jab as it can help to prevent the scarcity of blood in the blood banks and save many lives.