Demand for plasma donations that serve as an experimental treatment for COVID-19 is skyrocketing nationwide and far outpacing available supplies, according to The New York Times.
Without an available vaccine or proven treatment, many physicians are turning to convalescent plasma from recovered patients to help treat severe COVID-19 cases. Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic is leading a national program in this effort, which has given plasma infusions to about 2,500 patients nationwide. The FDA has also granted individual physicians permission to administer the experimental treatment.
To donate plasma, survivors must have tested positive for COVID-19 and gone two to four weeks without symptoms. These restrictions have greatly limited the amount of available donors in the U.S.
The high demand for the plasma has spurred "a kind of pandemic free-for-all for survivor good will," NYT wrote, in which family members are desperately turning to social media and mass emails to find a suitable donor for their loved ones.
Researchers, physicians and blood blank leaders told NYT they plan to create a process to administer plasma on demand as the pool of available donors grows over the next few weeks, without the need for family members to track down donor matches.