PLASMA WANTED
Blood Center seeks donors who have had COVID-19 or have its antibodies
When the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak in New York state, doctors, nurses and first responders from across the country came forward to help in a multitude of ways. Now is the time to pay it forward, and the New York Blood Center hopes residents who have had the virus will consider donating plasma.
Hundreds of the Ulster County residents who have tested positive for coronavirus antibodies, or have had the virus, already have donated plasma at the Kingston location of New York Blood Center at 51 Albany Ave., according to
Administrator Andrea Cefarelli.
In Dutchess County, there is a Blood Center location at 2070 Route 52 in Hopewell Junction.
Cefarelli said patients who test positive for coronavirus antibodies may donate their “convalescent plasma,” which then is sent to the nation’s hardest-hit
states, like Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Missouri and California.
Donors must have tested positive for COVID-19 and be symptom-free for 14 days. One donation can be used to treat two to three patients struggling with severe cases of COVID-19, according to a Blood Center press release.
Generally speaking, the “magic combination” that successfully treats COVID-19 patients requires two transfusions of the plasma within 24 hours, Cefarelli said.
As COVID-19 spreads, the New York Blood Center has sent 40,000 units of
convalescent plasma to virus hotspots around the nation, Cefarelli said.
“A great deal” of the blood product has gone to Texas and Florida, she said.
“We hustled early in the pandemic and collected the most plasma” in the nation, Cefarelli said. But in order to keep up with demand, the New York Blood Center will have to collect 10,000 units of convalescent plasma units per month.
While the Blood Center is collecting plasma for national distribution, Cefarelli said it also is expecting a resurgence of the virus in New York and hopes to rebuild the state’s inventory. Blood plasma stays viable for one year from when it is donated, she said.
The New York Blood Center’s
efforts are part of a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services initiative to increase the amount of convalescent plasma available to treat patients with severe or life-threatening COVID-19 nationwide.
As of Friday, according to the Ulster County’s COVID-19 online database, 1,734 county residents had recovered from the virus, making them potential donors. Dutchess County’s COVID-19 database showed 4,069 COVID recoveries as of Friday.
In a convalescent plasma treatment, the COVID-19 patient is transfused with the donor’s plasma with the goal of using the donor’s antibodies to help clear the virus more rapidly and help decrease the need for intensive-care beds and ventilators,
according to the Blood Center.
Cefarelli said many plasma donors have never donated blood or plasma before. The donation process starts online at nybc. org/covidplasma.
On the website, potential donors must upload proof they have had COVID-19 or the positive result of an antibody test, Cefarelli said.
After that, new donors will be called to schedule an appointment, at which they will be required to show identification and will be asked to complete a questionnaire on a tablet computer before sitting with a “donor specialist,” who will take their blood pressure and temperature and then escort them to a “donor bed,” she said.
The procedure involves only one needle stick and takes about 45 minutes, roughly 20 minutes longer than a standard blood donation. The plasma is collected by a machine that separates the donor’s blood, extracts the plasma and gives everything else back, Cefarelli said.
“After that,” she said, “you enjoy juice and cookies.”
Cefarelli also said the Blood Center is taking “extraordinary steps to ensure our staff and donors are safe”: Everyone is required to wear a mask; temperatures are taken regularly; and tablets, donor beds and collection areas are cleaned between donors.
Additionally, Cefarelli said, admission to the Blood
Center is by appointment only so that social distancing can be maintained.
Plasma is not the only blood product needed, Cefarelli said. The Blood Center is also in need of whole blood donors. In an average July, she said, the center holds about 500 blood drives, yielding 75 percent of the blood supply needed regionally. But because of the pandemic, she said, the number of drives has dropped to just over 100.
“We’re looking for organizations to host Blood Center blood drives,” Cefarelli said. Organizations also may offer community plasma and blood drives, she said.
For local stories related to the coronavirus, go to bit. ly/DFCOVID19.