COVID-19-Related Blood Shortages and Cardiac Surgery: Do We Have Too Many Eggs in One Basket?

Abstract

THE UNITED STATES BLOOD SUPPLY (Fig 1) is built on volunteer donations, a system that dates to World War II. It is estimated that there are 200 million potential blood donors in the United States, or roughly two-thirds of the population.1 The number of eligible donors has grown during the past 15 years, mainly through the inclusion of older persons (age ≥65 years) in the donor pool.1 Despite this, blood supply has decreased as more donor restrictions have been put into place and demand has fallen, offsetting growth in the potential donor pool.