NJ COVID-19 outbreaks causing blood emergency (Opinion)

I’m not a fear-monger. I have been one of those people that has been relatively calm during the pandemic, listening to facts and trying to take it all in without freaking out or freaking others out. But there’s one thing that upsets me and that is fear due to misinformation.

I’m not exactly sure why this happens, but it happened during the pandemic, too.

During a spike in COVID-19, people for some reason believe that blood donation centers are a place where they can become infected. So they stay away. This has become a problem recently in New Jersey during a higher than average COVID spike as it did in certain points throughout the bulk of the pandemic.

Over the past couple of weeks, there has been said to be quite the shortage in blood donations across New Jersey. New Jersey Blood Services (NJBS) announced a blood emergency due to an alarming drop in blood donations over the past six weeks. While this loss in donations has mostly been attributed to the pandemic, there are other outlying reasons that can be resolved.

With recent spring breaks, travels and other responsibilities, it seems as though free time to donate blood has become scarce.

As mentioned earlier, it is also understood that many may find donating blood risky, as it’s easy to believe that places such as hospitals and doctors' offices are potential breeding grounds for COVID.

While it is true that coronavirus rates have been surging across the state, hospitals are still in need of blood donors, as they rely daily on extra blood to save patients' lives.

One blood donation can save up to 3 lives, which is a huge number for a small action. If you are in a position where you feel comfortable and are able to donate blood, consider doing so before summer.

Summer break usually accounts for the most travel, especially in the suburbs and hospitals need to prepare for this period of time.

If you are interested in donating blood but unsure of where to go, you’re in luck. The NY Blood Center has set up a website where you can enter in your location, availability and mode of transportation in order to find a donation center that would benefit most from your donation.

The portal is super easy to navigate and also easy to send around social media. One donation goes such a long way.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Judi Franco only.

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