If we already knew that vaccination against Covid-19 could scare some people, now others are afraid of receiving the vaccine through a blood transfusion. “I am unvaccinated. What happens if I have an accident requiring a transfusion and I don’t want vaccinated blood? This tweet shared several thousand times has generated as much support as mockery. Some even answered with irony: “I am a math teacher. What if I have an accident requiring a transfusion and I don’t want history teacher’s blood? »
“As long as we do not have long-term data on the safety of this vaccine, we are within our rights not to accept a blood donation from a vaccinated person,” said another Internet user. “I find that for blood donations they could have set aside the blood of the vaccinated, so as not to renew the delirium of contaminated blood”, engages a detractor of the injection.
A question that arises as the French Blood Establishment launched this week for the first time a “vital emergency” appeal. But can the Covid-19 vaccine really pass through a blood transfusion? 20 minutes make the point.
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A blood transfusion “obviously cannot involve “contamination” from a possible vaccine. The vaccines concern the white blood cells, and more specifically the lymphocytes”, explains Professor Jacques Olivier Bay, from the hematology department of the Clermont-Ferrand University Hospital, to 20 minutes. However “the white blood cells (leukocytes) are eliminated” for a transfusion “because they would risk, if they were transfused, to cause undesirable reactions in the recipient”, explains the French Blood Establishment.
Concretely, during a transfusion, the patient only receives the component he needs. “When we donate our blood, it is centrifuged. Red blood cells, plasma and platelets are separated. The white blood cells are filtered and removed from blood products,” explains Cathy Bliem, director general of the French Blood Establishment.
Thus, the white blood cells, the only element of the blood involved in the immune response, are not transfused. This means that the vaccine cannot be “transmitted” either by a blood transfusion or by a transfusion of platelets.
However, some vaccines – excluding Covid-19 – require more precautions. “Some vaccines are live attenuated vaccines. In this case, there are contraindications for reasons of disturbance of the biological tests”, underlines the director. For example, it is necessary to wait four weeks after the injection for yellow fever, measles or rubella…
For Covid-19, the High Council for Public Health ruled on the issue of blood donation for vaccinated people in January 2021. The question arose from the arrival on the market of a new model of vaccine, namely Pfizer and Moderna which work by messenger RNA (mRNA). “Blood, cells or any tissue or organ transplanted from a donor vaccinated, even very recently, with one of these vaccines cannot be likely to contain any element potentially dangerous for the recipient”, concluded the president of the High Council.
“It is not possible for a recipient to choose the blood he receives”
It is also impossible to demand a blood transfusion only from a vaccinated or unvaccinated person. Firstly because all individuals, regardless of their vaccination status, can donate blood and plasma. “The vaccination status is not asked of donors”, explains the French Blood Establishment to 20 minutes. Indeed, this question does not appear in the MCQ to be completed before making a donation, and the vaccination pass is not requested either.
“Our principle is anonymity. It is not possible for a recipient to choose the blood he receives, just as it is not possible for a donor to choose to whom he gives, ”says the EFS.