There's a national blood shortage. Vitalant needs help from Arizona donors

Published: Tuesday, January 11, 2022 - 9:48am

Vitalant, which serves 900 hospitals across the country, including 62 in Arizona, has announced a national blood shortage.

Sue Thew with Vitalant says the supply of all blood types is critically low, especially Type O, which is currently at less than half capacity.

“We are seeing the lowest blood supply in two years and that’s because of the fast spreading Omicron variant that has rendered a lot of our normal donors ineligible to donate blood right now," Thew said. 

Thew also says eligible donors cannot be sick. Those with COVID-19 need to wait two weeks after they’re free of symptoms.

Information on donation can be found at vitalant.org.

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