Official website of New Zealand Blood Service
0800 448 325 | 0800 GIVE BLOOD
The New Zealand Government is yet to announce the timeframe for rolling out the COVID19 vaccination programme. When the vaccines are rolled out, NZBS will provide information about how each COVID-19 vaccine impacts blood donation, which may include a stand down period after receiving the vaccine.
Staff have been advised to follow Ministry of Health guidelines and the public has been well informed not to attend public areas if they are feeling unwell.
- Under Level 1
- One of our team at reception will ask general health questions.
- Under Level One social distancing is not required but each site will manage donor numbers on site to avoid crowding at our sites.
- All visitors, including support people and children, will need to record their name and contact details at reception for contact tracing purposes,
- Alcohol hand sanitisers will be readily available throughout the donor floor. Donors and staff will be expected to use these regularly.
- All donor beds will be wiped down after EACH donation.
- All needles and bags are single use and will be disposed of in a hygienic manner.
- Protective gear such as gloves will be optional to wear by staff.
- Wearing a mask is optional for staff and donors, and available (on request) for donors who prefer to wear them during their donation.
- All shared areas and donor touched areas will be wiped down after use.
- We are continuing to encourage donors to book an appointment, but if space and timing permits, we will accept walk-in’s.
Blood donor eligibility requires blood donors to be fit and healthy at the time of donation, so we do not foresee people who are unwell attending our donor centres or mobile blood drives.
The highest standards of hygiene and cleanliness are always followed in our donor centres and mobile blood drives.
We also have extra measures in place to keep our staff and donors safe, including hand cleaning, sanitising and antiseptic wipes to ensure our centres are safe for staff and donors.
All equipment used in the collection of blood is new, sterile and only used once.
Frequency of cleaning has been increased for all equipment and surfaces, including donor beds which will be wiped down after each use.
Social distancing is not required at Level one, however we are managing appointments carefully to manage donor flow, and we’re asking all donors to book appointments and arrive at their appointed times to manage this flow.
We would like to reassure donors that all of our sites follow the safety guidelines set out by the Ministry of Health.
At Level One it is optional for our collections staff to wear masks on the donor floor, but masks will be available on request for donors should they wish to wear them. Gloves are also optional for staff.
Routine blood donor screening measures – which include travel deferrals – that are already in place are designed to prevent individuals with who are unwell, or who have recently travelled from donating blood.
NZBS is deferring all blood donors who have travelled to ANY country in the world for 28 days following their return.
Additional deferrals have been put in place for donors who may have been in contact with a person who is a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19; and anyone diagnosed or suspected of having contracted COVID-19.
Appropriate measures will be put in place as we continue to monitor the situation.
You are screening donors who are unwell, telling them to delay giving blood. What about people who have the virus but no symptoms?
We rely on donors to follow Ministry of Health advice and guidelines and stay at home if they have a fever or are feeling unwell.
Before booking an appointment donors need to check the eligibility criteria– which includes recent travel, and read the latest updates on our website.
Our team at reception will ask a few pre-screen questions and advise donors of the protocols we have in place. We also have hand sanitisers throughout the donor floor for donors and staff to use on a regular basis.
Cleaning is conducted on all equipment and surfaces, including donor beds which will be wiped down after each use.
The health of our donors and staff are priority, and to keep the collection of blood going we need to make sure everyone stays safe.
Our regular procedure also includes requiring donors to notify us if they become unwell following a donation through our 0800 SAFE BLOOD number so that appropriate measures can be taken.
If you meet the blood donor eligibility criteria (found on our website) and are fit and healthy and completely well after recovering from any cough, cold, flu (minimum 7 days) – please book an appointment to donate.
If you are unsure, please call 0800 448 325 and ask to speak with one of our nurses.
Donors can show:
- The email confirmation that they receive on booking an appointment.
- Mobile phone app.
- Text message reminder.
All donation types are needed – whole blood, plasma and platelet donations.
Some of our sites may have Saturday collections but this will depend on staffing levels and the demand for blood – please check our website or app to find times and dates you can donate, alternatively call our contact centre on 0800 448 325.
NO! Any donor who feels unwell will need to reschedule or cancel their appointment, so we can try and fill those spaces. If you are unsure if you should donate, please contact us and speak to a nurse on 0800 448 325.
Donors who feels unwell in the 48 hours after donating, are asked to notify us immediately.
Yes. You can bring a support person to attend blood donations with you, but they will need to register their name and contact details at reception for contact tracing purposes
We advise that you don’t bring children as our staff cannot be responsible for your child while you donate.
We are following the Ministry of Health guidelines to keep a safe environment for donors and our staff.
I’m over 70-year-old, should I be leaving the house to donate blood?
NZBS is advising donors over 70 to follow the Ministry of Health guidelines.
As long as you are healthy and well and meet the blood donor eligibility criteria you can donate.
Donors who may have been in contact with a person with a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19; and anyone diagnosed as a confirmed case or a suspected case of COVID-19 will be deferred for 28 days.
If you have any concerns or need clarification, please call 0800 448 325 and ask to speak with a nurse.
Please contact NZBS immediately if in the 14 days following your donation you become unwell by phoning 0800 SAFE BLOOD. This includes if you have become unwell and are awaiting a test result for COVID-19 or test positive for COVID-19.
If there is an outbreak, additional challenges could arise, which could potentially reduce the number of eligible donors.
To ensure an adequate blood supply it is imperative that healthy, eligible individuals donate blood to ensure New Zealand’s blood supply can be maintained at all times.
We are asking all donors to book an appointment to enable us to manage the flow within the donor centres and mobiles.
Our teams will make every effort to fit in donors who don’t have appointments but this will be a decision based on whether there is an opportunity to slot them in between appointed donors, and also if their blood type is one that is in demand.
So please do not be offended if you are turned away. The best thing to do is to book an appointment!
Some venues that we hold blood drives in are not available. However we are looking at alternative options and where possible asking donors to travel to one of our donors centres if it is within easy reach.
Please check our mobile app to find those mobiles that are still operating, and we will notify donors if blood drives they are booked into are cancelled.
Will donating blood compromise my immunity and make me more likely to get sick afterwards considering the circumstances/virus?
There is no evidence that donating blood affects a person’s immunity and donating blood will not make you more likely to get sick.
To be eligible to give blood you must be fit, healthy and well. After you donate, your body will replace the fluids of the donated blood in just 24 hours. The red blood cells will be replaced in about 6 to 8 weeks.
However as with our regular procedure, if you feel unwell following a donation please notify us through our 0800 SAFE BLOOD number so that appropriate measures can be taken.
As long as you are healthy and well and meet the blood donor eligibility criteria you can donate.
Donors who may have been in contact with a person with a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19; and anyone diagnosed as a confirmed case or a suspected case of COVID-19 will be deferred for 28 days.
If you have any concerns or need clarification, please call 0800 448 325 and ask to speak with a nurse.
In the event that one of our staff member tests positive for COVID-19 we will follow Public Health advice regarding contact identification and tracking. We have provisions in place for deep cleaning any of our sites if required.
As long as you are healthy and well and meet the blood donor eligibility criteria you can donate.
Donors who may have been in contact with a person with a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19; and anyone diagnosed as a confirmed case or a suspected case of COVID-19 will be deferred for 28 days
There is no alternative for patients in need of blood and blood products, and blood donors save lives.
We need and value every donation that is made as blood has a short shelf life (35 days) and needs to be replenished. Currently, fewer than 4% of the New Zealand population are donors. To ensure the country can keep up with demand, NZBS needs to collect over 3,500 donations every week.
The stand down period between donations is in place for the health and safety of our donors. At this stage there are no changes to the stand down period – 3 months for whole blood donations, and 2 weeks for plasma/ platelet donations.
We will be posting any important donor information on our website and social channels, so please check in regularly.
If a COVID-19 patient goes into intensive care it is highly likely that blood transfusions will be required.
NZBS has collected plasma from patients who have recently recovered from COVID-19. This is known as a convalescent plasma donation because the plasma will contain antibodies to the illness, which can be transfused to provide a level of immunity against the illness in patients who have not yet recovered. To find out more please visit https://www.nzblood.co.nz/give-blood/covid-19-updates/convalescent-plasma/
What about the safety of blood from donors who may be infected without knowing it, and not showing any symptoms of COVID-19?
COVID-19 poses no risk to patients receiving blood transfusions as there are no cases of respiratory viruses being transmitted by transfusion.
There is currently no blood test available for COVID-19. However, NZBS routinely test all blood donations for viruses that pose a health risk to the recipient.
COVID-19 is a respiratory virus that is not known to be transmitted by transfusion which is why a test is also not required.
We encourage all donors to make an appointment to avoid being turned away and to ensure we can manage donor flow at our centres and blood drives. Appointments also help to manage the blood supply so we know who is booked in to donate what sort of donation.
We are monitoring the number of available appointments, appointment cancellations and donors not showing up for appointments
We appreciate that people may be cautious at this time, so we would like to take this opportunity to reassure our donors that we have robust processes in place to ensure that our donor centres and mobile blood drives are safe places to visit. The need for blood does not go away and we would encourage donors to continue to donate during all Levels.
Unfortunately an antibody test suitable for blood donor screening for COVID-19 is currently not available in NZ. But, given the very low rate of community transmission in New Zealand, the chances of finding a positive result in someone who didn’t already know they had had Covid-19 is very low. However we are monitoring developments in this area.
This is currently unknown as demand can change at any time. The blood supply will only be possible to maintain if people continue to donate.
We need all our appointments fully booked to meet demand. We need eligible donors to look at their schedules and book an appointment when they are next available.
Demand is being monitored constantly to ensure we are booking donors to meet demand across different blood types and blood products.
We have no concerns at this time about the availability of products we import, but this will continue to be closely monitored.
Wearing a mask is optional and available (on request) for donors who prefer to wear them during their donation.
Our volunteers can still work at sites across the country under Level One.
We really appreciate that all our donors are working hard to get to a session. However, we do not wish for any donors to put themselves at risk traveling long distances if they don’t have a safe mode of transportation. Please continue to donate blood if it is safe and practical for you to do so.