Canadian Blood Services (CBS) has seen a 17 per cent drop in its blood inventory since July, and the organization currently has only three days worth of O+ and O- blood types.

The national blood authority says blood collections have been “steadily decreasing” since July 1 and it is falling short of its target by 3,000 units in the upcoming week.

“Summer is always a challenging time for collections and this is the first summer since 2019 where there are no/very few restrictions on travel and activities. People in Canada are enjoying the return to pre-pandemic activities and summer travel, leaving them with less time to donate,” the organization wrote in an email to CP24 on Friday.

CBS added that the lack of donors is further fuelled by fewer in-person community events, ongoing illness and isolation requirements due to COVID-19 and heat-related weather impacts.

As of Aug. 5, the national blood inventory had only three days supply of both O+ and O-, six days of B+, and five days of A+, A- and B-. The agency says if inventory for these blood types is below eight days then more donations are needed.

However, there is a sufficient amount of the other blood types with 17 days worth of AB+ and 10 days of AB-.

CBS says it needs donors of all blood types in order to keep up with demand.

Blood, plasma and platelets donations assist cancer patients, accident and trauma victims, people undergoing surgery and people with blood disorders.

Donations, however, do have a shelf life of a year for frozen plasma, 42 days for red blood cells and five days for platelets.

CBS says there are currently 57,000 open blood donation appointments across the country that it wants to fill before the end of August.

The organization added it needs 100,000 new donors this year to keep up with demand.

In June, the organization reported its smallest donor base in a decade, as the number of donors decreased by 31,000 since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020.

Despite the seemingly large number of donors needed, the organization says the national blood inventory continues to meet patients’ needs.

“Thanks to the support of donors across the country, we are one of few blood operators around the world that has not experienced a blood crisis or issued a national appeal during the pandemic,” CBS wrote.

Anyone who wants to donate is being asked to book an appointment here, use the GiveBlood app or call 1-888-2 DONATE.

With files from The Canadian Press