Impact of COVID-19 on transfusion care of patients with hemoglobin disorders in India

As we navigate the first pandemic of our generation, we've been learning and adapting ourselves to this viral infection and its consequences. It's been more than two years since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and the virus has crippled the healthcare services in almost all the countries of the world. The healthcare systems in various parts of the world are still in the phase of recovery from the effect of the pandemic, as each country is witnessing the emergence of various variants causing multiple waves of infection. As an important part of the health care system, blood banks were one of the affected services. Most of the blood centers in India reported a significant reduction in blood donation during the COVID-19 pandemic. As transfusion services constitute a crucial backbone for the management of transfusion-dependent patients with hemoglobinopathies, the substantial reduction in the timely blood supply drastically affected these patients. All major healthcare centers in India were designated as COVID-19 care centers, which left very few options for these patients to visit for their routine care. Every country managed this acute blood shortages and developed unique strategies to support patients requiring blood transfusion. This manuscript aims to provide a snapshot of the challenges faced by the blood banks and transfusion services in India in the care of patients with hemoglobinopathies, and the mitigation strategies that were adopted.Copyright © Annals of Blood. All rights reserved.