CLAIM: The American Red Cross banned people who have received a COVID-19 vaccine from donating blood because it is “tainted.”
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. No potential donors are deemed ineligible solely due to COVID-19 vaccines, a Red Cross spokesperson told The Associated Press. People who know they received a COVID-19 vaccine that is approved by the Food and Drug Administration may immediately donate blood if they are healthy. Those who received vaccines including ones that contain a weakened form of the virus that causes COVID-19 — or people who aren’t sure — are asked to wait two weeks before donating.
THE FACTS: Social media users are misrepresenting a question the Red Cross asks potential blood donors to make false claims about donor eligibility and COVID-19 vaccine safety.
Many posts include a screenshot of the question as it appears on the Red Cross’ RapidPass system. It asks: “Have you EVER had a Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine?” Below the question are instructions for potential donors who answer yes to call the Red Cross “before coming in to donate to determine if this will affect your eligibility.”
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“UPDATED eligibility requirements from @RedCross now BANS certain covid VACCINATED people from donating blood!” reads one post on X that had received more than 3,200 likes and shares as of Friday. “(Another conspiracy theory proved true!) PURE BLOODS BE PROUD. The rest of you…retweet to warn your tainted friends and family.”
Other widespread posts don’t make claims about supposed bans, but imply that the question is proof COVID-19 vaccines are dangerous.
“I thought the vax was ‘safe and effective’?” another X post asks. “What info are they hiding from us?” It had received approximately 42,000 likes and 23,000 shares.
But the additional scrutiny has nothing to do with the safety of the vaccines. It is to assure that the COVID-19 virus is not present in blood being donated, as there is a risk that live attenuated vaccines — those that contain a weakened form of the virus they protect against — could pass the virus through blood.
The Red Cross follows FDA eligibility guidelines for blood donation. Its website states that people who received a non-replicating, inactivated, or mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Pfizer, Moderna, Janssen/Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca or Novavax can donate blood immediately if they are in good health.
Those who received vaccines that don’t meet these requirements — or if they don’t know — are asked to wait two weeks before donating. This includes COVID-19 vaccines that are live attenuated, none of which are currently approved for use in the U.S.
“There is no reason why a potential donor would be declared absolutely ineligible solely because they received a COVID vaccine,” Daniel Parra, a spokesperson for the Red Cross, told the AP in an email.
The Red Cross’s blood donation eligibility guidelines regarding COVID-19 vaccines have appeared on its website in their current form since early 2021. Potential donors who have received other vaccines that contain small amounts of live viruses, such as those for chicken pox, polio and yellow fever, are also required to wait before donating blood.
“Basically, if you received an FDA-approved COVID vaccine, you remember the name of the vaccine manufacturer, and you are feeling healthy, you won’t have a problem,” Parra wrote. “If you don’t know the name of your vaccine manufacturer, you will be deferred for two weeks because it’s not possible to determine with 100% certainty that you received an eligible vaccine.”
COVID-19 vaccines are “safe and effective,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Blood donations from vaccinated people are not “tainted” and serious adverse events following vaccination are rare.
“Blood donations from individuals who have received a COVID-19 vaccine approved or authorized for use in the U.S. are safe for transfusion,” reads a joint statement written last month by the Red Cross, America’s Blood Centers and the Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies.___This is part of the AP’s effort to address widely shared false and misleading information that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.