The Impact of COVID-19 On Blood Donations

Indeed, individuals show higher willingness to help after a disaster. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, presents significant differences, as it’s a long-term crisis that affects every individual, and poses a direct health threat.

Therefore, we propose that the pandemic negatively affects willingness to help, specifically blood donation intentions. It requires a high level of willingness to donate blood beyond the crisis outbreak, as more blood is needed when postponed surgeries resume. When comparing blood donation intentions from a pre-pandemic study to results from a six-wave (bi-weekly) panel study conducted during the first pandemic phase (April to June 2020) in Germany, we find lower blood donation intentions, especially in the medium and long term.