South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Your vaccine questions answered: Does the vaccine affect blood donations?
Submit your questions about the COVID-19 vaccines by emailing Lois Solomon at AskLois@ sunsentinel.com.
Q. “I have donated blood every eight weeks for most of my life. In addition, for the past 15 years, my hemoglobin and hematocrit would be too high if I do not regularly have enough blood removed. I have had two Pfizer vaccinations. When I donate, will the COVID antibodies regenerate or will I lose immunity faster than normal? Donating removes about 10% of my blood so will I lose about 10% of my COVID immunity each time I donate? Also, when I donated I asked if I could donate antibodies but was told by the tech that they were different from natural antibodies and could not be used for treating patients with COVID (that seems unlikely because if they protect me then why not others?). Not knowing his expertise, I am uncertain if his answer was accurate.” — Larry Robertson
A. Blood donations do not affect antibody levels, said Susan Forbes, spokeswoman for OneBlood, the blood donation hub that serves South and Central Florida and Tampa Bay.
“The immune system is dynamic, and in healthy individuals can quickly replace and maintain antibody levels as needed to fight infection,” she said. “Vaccination typically raises antibody levels significantly so this results in added protection.”
She said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is not allowing plasma donation from donors who had the vaccine but did not have COVID-19, although she said this ruling could change as more research is completed.
Q. “If someone took the first Pfizer vaccine but skipped their second on the date scheduled, they are now three months late, can they still take the second vaccine?” — Wilfred Soltano
A. That’s a tough one, because there’s no research on this at the moment. Although the Pfizer shot is usually offered in a three-tofour week window, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says you can delay the second dose up to six weeks.
“Currently, there is no data on the efficacy of the vaccine beyond this window,” said Dr. Andrea Klemes, chief medical officer at MDVIP, a national physicians’ network with headquarters in Boca Raton.
Q. “Is anyone tracking whether vaccinated people are getting mild cases of COVID? Are fully vaccinated people with mild flu-like symptoms (unrelated to vaccine side effects) or a cold getting tested? I’m wondering if that question is one that’s asked before a COVID test is given and then tracked by officials or the medical community.” — Kathleen Keenan, Boca Raton
A. Vaccination status is not routinely asked before a COVID test, but it should be, said Dr. Chad Sanborn, an infectious disease specialist in West Palm Beach.
“It’s kind of up to the fully vaccinated person to get themselves tested if they have symptoms,” he said. “We will soon have much more data as researchers and vaccine manufacturers around the world test their vaccine effectiveness in the ‘real world,’ i.e. outside of the licensing studies.”
Sanborn said studies are showing that getting mild illness post-vaccine is a relatively rare event.
“We do have information from Israel, for example, where they looked at hundreds of thousands of vaccine recipients and found that there was about a 92% reduction in symptomatic infection after the second vaccine dose of Pfizer,” he said. “Data for the other vaccines is coming, and we expect them to have similar reductions of mild (as well as severe) illness in the real-world setting.”
Q. “I got my first dose of Pfizer vaccine at the FEMA site in Miami Springs. May I get my second dose of the vaccine at a CVS pharmacy?” — Tracey Pendleton, Miami Springs
“Is there a possibility of a second COVID vaccine shot in Florida instead of New York State (my home state)?” — Brigitte Thieme
A. As long as you meet the Florida residency requirements, there are several sites that will give you a second dose if you got your first in a different location. These include CVS, Publix, the Miami-Dade College FEMA site and Broward College’s North Campus. Just make sure you are getting the same brand you got the first time.