In the light of the first marketing authorisations for vaccines intended to prevent Covid-19 caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the French High Council for Public Health has examined more comprehensively the exclusion or not of donors of products derived from the human body (blood, organs, tissues and cells), vaccinated against Covid-19. This opinion takes into account the different types of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines that are on the market in Europe or are likely to be in the coming months.

On the 15th of January 2021, the HCSP gave a provisional response on donors vaccinated with messenger RNA vaccines then in use in France.

After taking into consideration the nature and modes of action of these vaccines, as well as the need for an adequate supply of blood and other human body products, the HCSP recommends:

• that there should be no deferral, even temporary, of donors who have received a non-replicating messenger RNA vaccine authorised in the European Union (EU);
• to respect as a precaution a temporary deferral of 4 weeks for vaccinated donors from non-EU countries;
• to respect the principle of the benefit/risk balance for the recipient patient with an urgent indication for a haematopoietic stem cell transplant if the donor is originating from a foreign country;
• for all the other vaccines (DNA vaccines, replicative vector vaccines, attenuated vaccines) that are not yet available on the European market, to reconvene the HCSP for specific recommendations if necessary.