Those who had COVID-19 encouraged to donate plasma

MASON CITY — Those who have experienced COVID-19, or think they may have, are being encouraged to donate plasma. 

LifeServe Blood Center spokeswoman Danielle West says the plasma is part of the treatment for coronavirus patients who are in critical condition.  “That plasma has the same antibodies that the donor used to fight off the virus, so the hope is that those same antibodies will help the patient also fight off the virus. We’ve seen great success with this locally and nationwide, so it’s a program that continues to grow and we’re looking for more and more donors because the need continues to grow.”

West says the donation process is not the same as many of the others LifeServe does.  “So it’s a little bit different donation than a normal pint or whole blood that we consider that one pint donation. It’s a little bit different of a process and you need to meet a few different eligibility requirements, one of them being having a positive test result or believing you had it. We’re also doing antibody testing on folks who are interested to see if they have the right antibodies to be able to donate this product.”

West says she anticipates the demand for plasma donations will continue to rise.  “We’re looking good so far but we anticipate the need for these donors is going to just continue to go up and up, so we’re looking for more of those donors. We’re also going to start antibody testing all of our blood donors here soon, where if you come and give blood, you can find out if you have those COVID-19 antibodies after your donation, and then we’ll reach out to see if you’re interested in donating convalescent plasma.”

West says one donation of convalescent plasma can help four different people.

LifeServe has a donation center at 4700 4th Southwest in Mason City. To make an appointment or for more information, you can go to lifeservebloodcenter.org or call 800-287-4903. 

West made her comments Wednesday during the weekly City of Mason City/Cerro Gordo County COVID-19 press conference — you can watch the press conference below.