Just this week, the California Insurance Commissioner, Ricardo Lara, along with four LGBTQ+ organizations in California, urged the U.S.
Immediate request to lift blood deferral period Now, these policies are under new scrutiny. Gay and bisexual men, and other Queer men can be a part of the solution, although as things are now, outdated rules and policies prevent many perfectly healthy individuals from donating their blood. A surge in cases of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 has drained blood supplies at hospitals and blood banks. It’s also a critical resource, which cannot be manufactured and for which there is no alternative, that’s in short supply. Plasma from blood donations is essential in creating convalescent plasma therapies that effectively prevent severe illness and death in COVID-19 patients. Have you considered the role that blood donations play in lifting us out of the COVID-19 pandemic? Masking, social distancing, quarantining, vaccinations, and blood donations.
