Before COVID vaccine, convalescent plasma was used to treat patients. How is it being used today?
KABC
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LOS ANGELES (KABC) Long before vaccines, the focus was on a handful of COVID-19 treatments that provided glimmers of hope. The first to emerge was convalescent plasma. It offered a way for survivors to help those still suffering.
Golden plasma, teeming with precious antibodies, was tilled from the donated blood of coronavirus survivors - like now-retired LAPD Cmdr. Cory Palka.
The 34-year police veteran donated at American Red Cross centers three times before his antibodies waned. Through donating blood, plasma and my organs.I think there s no greater testament to my faith and to my life of caring for others, he said.
Red Cross in desperate need of donors: The need for blood is constant
KGO
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) ABC7 and the American Red Cross are partnering to urge Bay Area residents to donate blood in January for National Blood Donor Month. The need for blood is constant, said Justin Mueller, regional executive of donor services for the American Red Cross Northern California coastal region. That s the same that we always had pre-COVID. It holds very true today.
According to Mueller, about 25 percent of Red Cross blood drives were at colleges and high schools prior to the coronavirus pandemic. Distance learning ended that opportunity.