IN THE SUN: AS PANDEMIC LOOSENS GRIP, PLASMA DONATIONS RISE
At a CSL Plasma center in the east Las Vegas Valley, firsttime donor Michael Morales overcame a fear of needles to give a unit of plasma, the protein-rich liquid blood component that transports blood cells throughout the body and is critical to clotting and fighting infection.
Morales’ brother-in-law is a regular plasma donor who turned him on to giving after noting that his usual crew had thinned out over the last few months because of the pandemic. Donors also receive compensation, which can be as high as $700 in the first month.
Plasma is used to produce therapies to treat bleeding disorders, edema, respiratory and neurological disorders, and immune deficiencies. Plasma donors can give twice a week, and he planned to do so, as soon as the 48-hour recovery window on his first donation allowed.
Vlasta Hakes, corporate affairs director for the multinational producer of blood plasma-based products Grifols, said plasma donation in general had gone up and down during the pandemic, following anxieties during virus waves and typical seasonal effects. Physical distancing
and appointment protocols have also limited how many donors centers can process.
She said the Las Vegas area — where Grifols operates three donation centers — is on the upswing as more people are vaccinated against the coronavirus and the usual winter slowdown closes out. The company markets the life-saving importance of donations.
Hakes said the average compensation of about $50 a donation was an incentive but not the sole driver, especially as the government stimulus has helped people hit by the pandemic’s economic effects. (Payments vary by donor weight, location and promotions.)
“A lot of the patients that use plasma medicines have rare and chronic conditions and are more susceptible to COVID19, so it’s even more important that they continue to get their medicines,” Hakes said.
Toby Simon, a senior medical director for the Florida-based CSL Plasma, agreed that people had concerns early in the pandemic about safety in centers, but once the company put in cleaning, screening and distancing protocols, people returned.
As an essential service, CSL centers never closed during the shutdowns.
“We’re continuing with that effort because there’s a tremendous need for the plasma product,” he said.
Plasma donation can take more than two hours for a first visit and about an hour to an hour and a half for subsequent visits, Simon said. Donors spend much of this time reclining with a needle in their arm as a machine pulls out blood, separates the plasma, and reinfuses the red cells, white cells and platelets to the body.
Earlier and more frequent diagnosis of immunodeficiencies have increased the demand for plasma products. There have
also been pandemic-driven needs, such as the collection of convalescent plasma to help coronavirus patients’ recovery, and immunoglobulins for young people with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, a rare but potentially serious complication of COVID-19.
“What I always try to emphasize is, the individuals who donate plasma are helping, really, hundreds of thousands of patients and they can really feel good about what they’re doing,” Simon said. “We make a number of different therapies from the plasma — we make at least two major therapies from every unit and then we have many additional specialized products.”
As for blood donations during the pandemic, the American Red Cross reminds donors and potential donors of the ongoing
need for blood and platelet donations. “Donating blood products is essential to community health and the need for blood products is constant,” the American Red Cross said in a news release this week. “As hospitals resume surgical procedures and patient treatments that were temporarily paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic, donors are urged to give now to ensure blood products are readily available for patients.”
On a recent afternoon at the CSL Plasma center at Nellis Boulevard and Desert Inn Road, center manager Erica Wiley watched donors check in before getting comfortable in the chaise lounge-like donation beds.
She said the company didn’t track why donors chose to come in, but she said many people did it to help others. Colleague Neville Bain, who oversees operations and quality in CSL’S five-location-wide Vegas market, agreed. He said people from all walks of life donated, and though money could be a motivator, not every donor needed it.
The walls and windows of the bright, clean and quiet clinic are covered with altruistic messages. One mural asks, “Hey Angel, where are you hiding your wings?”
Morales, the new donor, said his work with helping prepare rental homes for new tenants had been a little slow, but he also didn’t need the money that came with donating plasma.
“Anything I can do to help is a little better,” he said.