Coronavirus survivors are shocked as gay men are unable to donate blood, despite the urgency for plasma to be used for other patients.
For many years, the FDA has restricted gay men for donating blood but decided to loosen rules of blood donation by gays on April 2 in the coronavirus outbreak.
Even with the FDA allowing gay men to donate blood, according to NBC News, many blood centers choose to refuse because they were gay.
Harvesting enough plasma and antibodies are crucial, yet Red Cross and Blood Centers have been unable to receive donations.
One reason for the refusal to process such donations since April 2, is because the staffs have not been trained or their computer systems need updating to accept the new condition on blood donation by gay men.
Another reason is the trade group that all blood banks belong, have not received the critical document from the FDA.
The FDA disallowed any blood donations by gays in 1985 because of HIV, and the same with gays in 1977 from donating blood. In 2015, gay men were not allowed if they were promiscuous in the last year, and on April 2 it was past three months.
One basis of these definitions is how promiscuous these gay men were before allowing blood donations.
Both gay and bisexual men were lining up to give precious plasma but were not allowed to do so.
Coronavirus survivor Lukus Estok was trying to be part of the Mount Sinai hospital system's blood plasma therapy program. He was intent on helping others with his antibodies.
He reached out to Mount Sinai to start the process.
Examination of his blood has the number of antibodies needed and he was scheduled to donate his blood. When he arrived at the New York Blood Center, he was unable to donate for some reason.
All was okay, when he informed them that he was gay, "It was like I was radioactive."
Estok was able to record on his mobile, what the NYBC staff said and the FDA's new rules were not in place. He left without donating blood.
Later an NYBC staffer said that asking sexual orientation was not standard practice, they were asked if they had sex with another man in the last 12 months.
Another individual, Brandon Gunther of Sacramento, California, had been turned away from a blood center too, under the same circumstances.
According to Gunther, gay men will not be able to donate if they are not abstinent for one year from the date of donation.
Many gay men found the decisions very discriminatory and unfair.
In response, Blood Bank reps told NBC news, that it was just a hard for them, and the rules have been under question for years. The change will take months before gay men can donate.
For now, gay men are unable to donate blood until the changes are in place.
Related article : Blood Plasma From COVID-19 Survivors Can Be Used to Fight Infection
