The American Red Cross announced it is continuing to experience an emergency blood and platelet shortage that has caused the blood supply to drop to the lowest post-summer level in at least six years.
Red Cross officials say with less than a day’s supply of certain blood types in recent weeks, donors of all blood types – especially type O − are asked to make an appointment to give blood or platelets as soon as possible.
Fall is typically a time when the blood supply rebounds from summer blood shortages, but a surge in COVID-19 cases across the U.S. due to the delta variant has contributed to the lowest donor turnout of the year. To shore up inventory, the Red Cross must collect 10,000 additional blood products each week this month to meet hospital and patient needs.
Appointments can be made by using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting RedCrossBlood.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).
Blood drives will be available locally on Thursday, October 28th from 12:30pm to 5:30pm at the Chautauqua Mall in Lakewood and on Friday, October 29th from 1pm to 6pm at the DoubleTree Hotel in downtown Jamestown.
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