BY GRANT LANCASTER
New York Blood Center will begin using blood plasma from those who have recovered from COVID-19 coronavirus to help treat those still suffering from the disease.
The treatment, known as convalescent plasma treatment, the antibodies from the recovered patient’s blood are transfused into the ill patient in an attempt to help their body fight the illness.
The U.S. FDA approved the treatment on a case-by-case basis yesterday, and NYBC will be the first in the U.S. to collect blood for the treatment, according to a Wednesday press release.
“If this treatment proves to be effective, we are prepared to quickly scale our process and activate our network to serve hospitals nationwide,” said Beth H. Shaz, chief medical and scientific officer at NYBC.
Officials from area hospitals and the FDA will refer qualified donors to the NYBC and the Center will keep a bank of the blood to provide to hospitals for patient treatment.
