Can I donate after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine?

If you received an mRNA vaccine such as Pfizer or Moderna, you may donate immediately after vaccination as long as you are feeling well and all other donor criteria are met.

If you received an attenuated virus vaccine such as AstraZeneca, you may donate whole blood 2 weeks after vaccination as long as you are feeling well and all other donor criteria are met.

You may not donate COVID-19 convalescent plasma after you have been vaccinated, however, this is currently under FDA review and may change.

About COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma

People who have recovered from COVID-19 develop antibodies to the coronavirus that remain in the plasma portion of their blood.  Studies have shown that transfusing the plasma from a person who has recovered from COVID-19, into a patient still fighting the disease, can help boost the patient’s immune system and potentially help them recover. The treatment is known as, COVID-19 convalescent plasma.

COVID-19 convalescent plasma is a treatment that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted emergency use authorization to use in treating COVID-19 patients. With no cure or vaccine to prevent the coronavirus, doctors are turning to convalescent plasma to help treat COVID-19 patients and are seeing promising results.

Only people who have recovered from COVID-19 have the potential of being convalescent plasma donors.

WKRBC began collecting convalescent plasma in spring 2020 and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. WKRBC distributes COVID-19 convalescent plasma 24 hours a day seven days a week to hospitals throughout western Kentucky.

In addition to local efforts, WKRBC has been working closely with the federal government since the beginning of the pandemic to assist in efforts to create a national inventory of COVID-19 convalescent plasma.

WKRBC is offering the COVID-19 antibody testing to all blood donors. Donors who test positive for the antibody have the potential of becoming COVID-19 convalescent plasma donors.

To donate COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma: Please call WKRBC at 270-684-9296 if:

You have had and have recovered from COVID-19 and have been asymptomatic for a minimum of 14 days. We will draw a sample and have your antibody level confirmed by the only COVID-19 Antibody FDA approved test for blood donors. Next, you will be scheduled to make your CCP donation. You can expect this donation to last about an hour. Since plasma is the liquid portion of your blood and the body replenishes the plasma within 24-48 hours, WKRBC can draw a CCP donor as frequently as every 2 weeks.

Currently, CCP donations are only conducted in the Owensboro Center at 3015 Old Hartford Road.