Thousands more people may now be eligible to donate blood thanks to recent changes to a number of Canadian Blood Services’ deferral policies and donor restrictions to broaden the pool of eligible donors.
This year alone, about 100,000 new blood donors are needed to support the national blood supply. Some of the changes include eliminating the upper age limit for donating and donors over the age of 71 no longer need to have their physician fill out an assessment form before donating blood.
Donors who have recently received most vaccines will no longer need to wait two days before donating blood. The complete policy changes are available at blood.ca.