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Virus woes majorly impact blood center in Indianapolis

Blood donations needed in Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The coronavirus is having a major impact on local blood centers, and now those local centers are urging people to donate blood.

Doctors at Versiti Blood Center of Indiana say in the last two weeks they’ve had more than 50 blood drives canceled because of the coronavirus. Part of the reason for the cancellations is college campuses have been closed and students make up 20% to 30% of their donations.

Dr. Dan Waxman of Versiti said Thursday, “Every day, we need to collect 550 blood donations a day, and we can’t manufacture blood. I can’t bioengineer it. Companies can’t make blood. People need people. And we need it to come from human donors to donate the blood and so we need 550 donations every day so that we have on the shelves blood ready for surgeries, cancer therapy, ready for emergencies.”

In Indiana, donors can be as young as 16 to donate and there’s no maximum age limit.