TEHRAN – Those people who have injected a coronavirus vaccine can also donate their blood and there are no obstacles in this regard, Bashir Haji-Beigi, the Blood Transfusion Organization spokesman, said on Saturday.

People who have received AstraZeneca and Sputnik vaccines can donate blood 28 days after vaccination, he said, adding, but those who have been injected with Sinopharm, Sinovac, and Barekat vaccines can refer to blood donation centers as soon as their symptoms such as pain, fever, and faintness are removed.

Over the first three months of the current [Iranian calendar] year (started March 21), some 510,000 people donated blood across the country, Haji-Beigi said in July.

Blood donation over the aforementioned period has increased by 15 percent compared to the same period last year, he added.

“During this period, the provinces of Qazvin, Khuzestan, and Khorasan Razavi had the highest growth rate of blood donation in the country.”

He went on to say that the index of regular blood donation in the country was estimated at 57 percent and the highest rate was related to the provinces of Semnan, Yazd, and Bushehr.

Over 2.1m Iranians donate blood per year

Blood donation in Iran has long been done voluntarily as over 2.1 million Iranians donate blood annually, Haji-Beigi said on June 14.

There are currently 178 blood donation centers in the country, with Fars, Khorasan Razavi, Khuzestan, Tehran, and Mazandaran provinces having the largest number of blood donation centers, he stated.

While blood donation in 70 countries still depends on replacement or paid donors, Iran is the first country in the region that has enjoyed voluntary blood donation by 100 percent since 2007.

More than 85 percent of all donated blood worldwide is used to produce blood products, while the rate is 65 percent in Eastern Mediterranean countries. Iran ranks among the highest-income countries in terms of converting more than 97 percent of the blood donated by people to plasma-derived medicinal products (PDMP).

Only 55 of 171 countries produce PDMP through the fractionation of plasma collected in the reporting country. A total of 90 countries reported that all PDMP are imported, 16 countries reported that no PDMP was used during the reporting period, and 10 countries did not respond to the question, according to WHO.

Iran currently has the highest blood donation rate in the Eastern Mediterranean region so that out of 9.9 million blood donation units in this region, more than two million belongs to Iran.

Also, the index of blood donation is 25 per 1,000 populations, while in the member states of the Eastern Mediterranean region, this number is 14.9 per 1000.

MG