Donate plasma before vaccination on May 1: Docs
NOIDA: Even as kin of Covid-19 patients go from pillar to post trying to source eligible plasma donors, doctors urge those who are recovering now to first donate plasma and before getting vaccinated.
Plasma is used to treat coronavirus patients with convalescent plasma therapy. Donors have to be asymptomatic for 15 days and are eligible to donate one month post testing negative. Vaccination against the coronavirus disease is opening up for everyone above the age of 18 years from Saturday.
“As per the existing protocol, individuals who have received a Covid-19 vaccine dose are not eligible to donate convalescent plasma before 28 days, the standard time required to develop substantial immunity. Therefore, it is important to donate plasma before getting vaccinated,” said Dr Gyan Bharti, Pulmonologist, Columbia Asia Hospital in Ghaziabad.
Doctors said they are facing a shortage of plasma donors for
Covid treatment as of now, and if recovered patients opt to get vaccinated before making a plasma donation, the shortage will become acute.
Experts said they believe that the donor pool is expected to increase in May, as there will be many more recoveries in April, as compared to the period between January and March this year, owing to the rising number of cases. In April, 4,473 people have recovered from Covid-19 in Gautam Budh Nagar so far, while in Ghaziabad, this number is at 3,207.
“Not all recovered patients can donate plasma; there are criteria. Still, out of the total recoveries, we hope that a lot of people will be eligible and will come forward to help others. However, if recovered people take the jab and wait for another 28 days, it will create a shortage in the meantime,” said Dr Satyam Arora, associate professor (research and transfusion medicine) at SSPHPGTI, Noida.
He added that this is besides the fact that it is a huge challenge to get people to step out of their homes to make the donation, especially when we are in the middle of a second wave of the coronavirus. “We hope that looking at the situation, people will understand and voluntarily come forward,” said Arora.
He added that currently at the plasma bank at SSPHPGTI, at least 15 requests are coming in per day for plasma but the bank is only able to meet the request of eight to 12 people. “I will get myself vaccinated only after donating plasma,” said Alisha Siddhartha, a resident of Gaur City Avenue in Greater Noida West, who is currently infected.