This week is National Blood Donor Week, and Canadian Blood Services (CBS) is looking for people to roll up their sleeves.
Blood donations are down this year in Kingston, Ont., with more than 1,700 open spots.
But Kingston is not alone — across Canada, there are over 150,000 open appointments.
“Typically we expect to see challenges filling appointments in the summer, when people are distracted by nice weather and vacation plans,” says Ron Vezina, vice-president of Public Affairs for Canadian Blood Services.
“This year, the lag has hit sooner than we expected. We know there are major events impacting people in various communities across the country, but we can’t pause the need for blood.”
According to CBS, blood donation has been on the decline since the COVID-19 pandemic.
They say there is no specific reason behind it, but could be attributed to medical reasons or deferrals.
“What we know is that we lost a large number of regular blood donors,” says Debbi Barfoot, Community Development Manager for CBS.
“Now we have to bring in new blood donors to make up and mitigate those losses.”
Barfoot also adds that the need for blood tends to rise in the summer months, with more vehicle collisions happening in the summer due to increased travel habits.
If you wish to donate blood, you can visit blood.ca to book an appointment.
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