Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic and several other institutions launched a national campaign May 26 urging COVID-19 survivors to donate their plasma, which contains antibodies that can help other patients fight off the disease.
The campaign, called "The Fight Is In Us," is recruiting COVID-19 survivors who have recovered no more than two months before their donation to ensure their plasma has enough antibodies to facilitate recovery. It is seeking plasma from tens of thousands of survivors to treat the country's population of hospitalized COVID-19 patients and prepare for the spike in cases the CDC has predicted for this fall.
There are more than 1,500 locations at which survivors can donate. The campaign will begin in the U.S. before expanding to Europe.
The effort is led by a coalition of medical research institutions, blood centers, technology companies, philanthropic organizations, life science companies and COVID-19 survivor groups.