Over two years. 15 over 2 years:
Background and Objectives
Requests for “unvaccinated” blood have been discouraged by professional and regulatory bodies because they lack scientific support and may negatively impact patient care. We describe a single-center series in which patients or surrogates refused standard blood components unless sourced from directed donors perceived to be “unvaccinated.”
Materials and Methods
We performed a retrospective review of directed donations received at Vanderbilt University Medical Center between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2025. Data included demographics, clinical scenario, component details, and documented operational or clinical consequences.
Results
Directed donor units were received for 15 patients; 13 of these patients were transfused at least one unit (n = 31 directed components: 22 red blood cell [RBC] units, 5 platelet units, 2 plasma units, 2 cryoprecipitate units). Median age was 17 years (range 0.33–73); nine patients were pediatric (<18 years). An ethics consultation was documented for one case, and a transfusion medicine consultation was documented for one case. Seven patients (47%) had at least one directed unit that was not transfused to them. Two patients clinically deteriorated in the setting of refusal of standard components, one of which also received a transfusion that deviated from institutional transfusion guidelines to avoid outdating, and two additional patients had surgical delay/cancellation with rescheduling associated with directed component availability.
Conclusion
In this series, all directed units were from “unvaccinated” donors. These requests were associated with care delays, escalation, and inefficiencies. Health systems should implement standardized counseling, documentation, and escalation pathways consistent with existing guidance.
“During the study period, the VUMC blood bank received 144,856 total blood product units, of which directed donor units accounted for 0.03% (48/144,856). These 48 directed donor units were received for 15 patients, and in all cases, the request was motivated by concerns about blood from vaccinated donors.”
I refused any COVID vaccinations as they weren’t properly
proven to be safe.
Most everyone I know has had increased health problems
due to the COVID shot.
I think I had COVID and survived. with some left over effects.
But I’m old(70+).
Not that worried about my life expectancy
(84 years Avg. per government), but I’d prefer
quality over quantity.
Taking a un-proven shot that can screw up
your heart is not a gamble I will take.
Young people getting this bad stuff,
is serious for them.
God watch over them.
"Discouraged" by the very entities that threw their collective credibility in the sewer with mask mandates, anti-social mandates, and worst of all mRNA injection mandates.