Organizations such as the American Red Cross and Miller-Keystone Blood Center are facing their worst blood shortage in over a decade as many drives have been canceled due to COVID-19 impacts and fewer people are signing up for those that do take place.

Shortages have forced medical officials into difficult decisions about who receives blood transfusions and who will need to wait until more products become available.

“While some types of medical care can wait, others can’t,” Dr. Pampee Young, chief medical officer of the Red Cross, said. “Hospitals are still seeing accident victims, cancer patients, those with blood disorders like sickle cell disease, and individuals who are seriously ill who all need blood transfusions to live even as omicron cases surge across the country. We’re doing everything we can to increase blood donations to ensure every patient can receive medical treatments without delay, but we cannot do it without more donors. We need the help of the American people.”

The Red Cross has experienced a 10% decline in the number of people donating blood since the beginning of the pandemic and continues to confront relentless issues due to the pandemic, including ongoing blood drive cancellations and staffing limitations. Adding to the concern is the surge of COVID-19 cases. The Red Cross has experienced low donor turnout ever since the delta variant began spreading in August, and that trend, officials said, continues as the omicron variant takes over.

All blood types are needed, especially types O positive and O negative, as well as platelet donations.

“Every community in America needs blood on a daily basis. At a time when many businesses and organizations across the country are experiencing pandemic challenge,” Young said. “The Red Cross is no different. And while we are all learning how to live in this new environment, how we spend our time, where we work, how we give back, how we make a difference in the lives of others, donating blood must continue to be part of it.”

Carol Graves, Miller-Keystone Blood Center account manager for the Palmerton, Lehighton and Panther Valley areas, calls the shortage the worst she has seen in her 20 years with the company.

“We’ve had several different episodes where staff was inadvertently exposed via a donor,” Graves said. “And when that happens, when you have five people from our company working with a group of people and one person is exposed, they all get quarantined until tests come back. In essence, you’re losing an entire day’s worth of staff.”

Hospitals, she added, “have been very understanding and working with us very closely. Because of the diminished supply that we have, they have been very cautious how they’re using the blood that we do have available to them.”

“The initial impact on the hospitals are elective surgeries are eliminated. We also have to think about the countless cancer patients, including pediatric patients, who need whole blood transfusions during or after chemotherapy, and the patients who need platelet transfusions. Unlike blood, the shelf life of platelets is seven days. As quickly as we collect and test these units, they are on their way to the hospitals.”

Miller-Keystone community blood drives in Palmerton, Lehighton and the Panther Valley areas have been doing very well, but Graves said those drives are held once a month or once every other month.

“Some of our high schools have not come back this year as host sites,” she said. “The high schools typically brought a lot of units in, but they are being cautious and we understand why so we’re not pushing it.”

The Red Cross, which supplies 40% of the nation’s blood, has had to limit blood distributions to hospitals in recent weeks. On certain days, some hospitals may not receive as much as one-quarter of the blood products requested.

“Blood,” Young said, “cannot be manufactured or stockpiled and can only be made available through the kindness of volunteer donors.”

The shortage comes during National Blood Donor Month, a time to raise awareness about the need for blood donations when regular seasonal illnesses like colds and the flu, as well as winter weather often leads to a decline in donations.

“The Red Cross appreciates the patience of blood donors and blood drive hosts,” Young said. “As the nation faces the latest challenges of this pandemic environment, there may not be an immediate appointment available or an individual may be asked to reschedule an appointment, but the Red Cross still needs donors. The Red Cross is grateful for donors’ understanding as the organization works tirelessly to meet the needs of patients.”

Individuals who have received a COVID-19 vaccine currently authorized in the U.S., including those manufactured by Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, and Pfizer, are able to donate blood and platelets as long as they are symptom-free and feeling well at the time of donation, according to a joint statement from America’s Blood Centers, the Red Cross and the Association for the Advancement of Blood and Biotherapies.

Donors can make an appointment to give blood or platelets as soon as possible by using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting RedCrossBlood.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).

Miller-Keystone has blood drives scheduled for Feb. 11 at Zion United Church of Christ in Lehighton, Feb. 9 at the Nesquehoning Fire Company, Feb. 2 at the Western Pocono Community Library in Brodheadsville and Jan. 13 at Northwestern Lehigh High School. Appointments for those dates, as well as a full list of fixed blood donation sites, can be found at www.giveapint.org.