Inquiries for Unvaccinated Donor Blood on the Rise, Contractor Says

The COVID-19 pandemic had a devastating effect on the entire world. The protocols that were instituted to mitigate the deadly impact of COVID-19 caused additional damage.

Masking and social isolation measures divided America’s population into two camps. Those who embraced the mandates became intolerant of those who rejected them, and vice versa.

According to data compiled by USA Facts, approximately 81 percent of Americans have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as of May 10. About 70 percent are considered fully vaccinated.

Those vaccines triggered a whole new era of segregation: the vaccinated versus the unvaccinated.

Blood Clots

The safety of COVID-19 vaccines became a highly-controversial issue after they were rolled out.

An analysis (pdf) regarding the demand for unvaccinated blood, issued Dec. 17, 2022, noted that “embalmers have reported finding unusual clots not only in deceased people” who’ve received COVID-19 vaccinations “but also in those who have had a blood transfusion.”

The analysis included comments from Steve Kirsch, executive director of the Vaccine Safety Research Foundation, who concluded that “the risk is not zero.”

A study led by the State University of New York at Buffalo (UB) and published on Feb. 1 in the Journal of Clinical and Translational Science confirmed that COVID-19 vaccines do pose a small risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE), or blood clots.

Dr. Peter L. Elkin, first author of the paper and a UB distinguished professor, called the risk “trivial,” noting that “about 1.4 cases per million” vaccinated patients were affected.

Mark Sherwood, a naturopathic doctor with the Functional Medicine Institute, suggests other factors are involved.

“I have talked to morticians who have been in the business for 25 and 30 years and they are indeed seeing an increase in clots in the bodies of both vaccinated and unvaccinated people,” Sherwood told The Epoch Times. “Further, they indicate to me that the question of vaccination or not is coming up more.”

Sherwood also said he “would be remiss” if he didn’t mention that the American diet is “creating massive inflammation on an organ system called the endothelium, which lends itself to more damage and more clot risk.”

He also noted the rise in cases of heart disease and vascular disease.

“That’s a very important point,” Sherwood insisted. “We need to look at all angles of this from both a medical and a journalistic standpoint.”

FDA Revises Major Donor Eligibility Rule

On May 11, the FDA finalized recommendations “assessing blood donor eligibility using a set of individual risk-based questions to reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted HIV.”

“These final recommendations are consistent with the policy initially proposed in January,” the FDA said.

“This policy eliminates time-based deferrals and screening questions specific to men who have sex with men (MSM) and women who have sex with MSM,” the FDA advised.

Under the final guidance, all questions “will be the same for every donor, regardless of sexual orientation, sex or gender,” and blood-related establishments are advised that they “may now implement these recommendations by revising their donor history questionnaires and procedures.”

“All prospective donors who report having a new sexual partner, or more than one sexual partner in the past three months, and anal sex in the past three months, would be deferred to reduce the likelihood of donations by individuals with new or recent HIV infection who may be in the window period for detection of HIV by nucleic acid testing,” the FDA advised.

People taking medications to treat or prevent HIV infection will also be deferred.

While the FDA has issued final guidance, Winn said the changes have not yet been implemented.

“We have many changes to make to our donor screening system, donor records, and staff training,” Winn explained. “Even though the new guidance has been out for a couple of weeks, blood providers are not able to make these changes overnight. We are beginning the process, and welcome the change, but we have a lot of i’s to dot and a lot of t’s to cross.”

Winn anticipates the new eligibility criteria should be running by the end of the year.

High Risk of Transmission

By using individual risk-based questions, the FDA hopes to “reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted HIV.” However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says blood transfusions pose the highest rate of HIV transmission per exposure.

For every 10,000 exposures through a blood transfusion, 9,250 recipients of that blood will contract HIV.

In a statement (pdf) issued on May 17, the Association for the Advancement of Blood and Biotherapies (AABB) joined the American Red Cross to “applaud the important, science-driven step forward in blood donation criteria that will base eligibility on an individual donor assessment using the same set of questions for all donors, regardless of sexual orientation.”

“The blood community is proud to mark this progress towards a more inclusive blood donation process and is committed to working with the FDA and other stakeholders to ensure that deferral changes continue to be examined moving forward.”

Sherwood said he is “very concerned” about the FDA’s decision to revise the screening requirements for assessing the eligibility of donors.

He believes the FDA’s new guidance is more of “a political stunt” than an effort to protect the public.

“When we start compromising principles for political correctness, we’re losing our direction,” Sherwood suggested. “This is a natural next step in the regressive progression.”

Sherwood warned that the new guidance could have devastating consequences.

“What if one HIV-infected donation slips through?” he asked. “While some will argue HIV is very treatable today, why would you be willing to pass it on to someone just because it’s easier to treat?”