ARKANSAS, USA — The Arkansas Blood Institute (ABI) will be providing COVID-19 convalescent plasma for patient care.
According to ABI, the state’s first unit of new and improved COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) is being shipped for transfusion. ABI says the plasma can be used for outpatient treatment to prevent the progression of coronavirus infection.
This comes as some monoclonal drugs have been withdrawn as approved treatments by the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA). ABI says CCP is now a timely alternative therapy to close a potential patient care gap in fighting the worst effects of COVID-19.
Newly reformulated CCP was recently approved by the FDA as a specialized type of transfusion for patients with weakened immune systems to prevent their condition from worsening.
Plasma collected from patients who recovered from infections in the past 6 months has better coverage than older CCP for the Delta and Omicron variants currently circulating, according to ABI.
ABI says this is important because this week, the FDA removed two monoclonal antibody therapies produced by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly from the list of acceptable COVID-19 treatments. The FDA said they are ineffective against the Omicron variant.
According to a recent study of over 1,200 cases patients who received CCP were hospitalized approximately half as often compared to the control group not receiving the treatment. This is the best data available in studying the outpatient benefit of “borrowing” the immune strength of a recovered patient to help boost the defense of a newly infected one according to ABI.
“By preventing hospitalizations, CCP can make possible a significant lightening of the care burden on overwhelmed nurses, doctors, and other hospital staff. It can also alleviate stress on patients and families as thousands of Arkansans continue to fear the worst outcomes that the virus can cause,” said Dr. John Armitage, OBI’s president, and CEO. “Blood donation now has a wonderful added benefit of empowering our fight the pandemic virus. It’s really a bonus miracle to add to the traditional lifesaving effects of giving blood. If you have recently recovered from COVID-19, please consider donating CCP.”
ABI is currently searching for donors who have symptomatic COVID-19 within the last six months and have been fully recovered for over 10 days.
Vaccination status is not a factor when selecting CCP donors. CCP donor blood must show high levels of anti-COVID-19 antibodies.
ABI is currently providing the necessary antibody testing and has extended the service through Feb. 6 in an effort to find more CCP donors. This additional anti-COVID-19 screening test is free to all donors. The test has not been cleared or approved by the FDA. It is only authorized under Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for use by authorized laboratories. The test has been authorized only for the detection of the antibody IgG antibody against SARS-CoV-2, not for any other viruses or pathogens. The test results will be made available after the donation on the donor portal.
Overall, blood donations are currently challenging with the Omicron variant impact. Both blood drive and individual appointments continue to cancel at an extremely high rate according to ABI. ABI supports the blood inventory for patients in more than 160 hospitals, medical facilities, and air ambulances systemwide.
Requirements for donations and screenings:
- Photo ID
- Donors ages 16 or 17-years old need parental consent to be screened for COVID-19 antibodies.
- 16-year-olds must weigh at least 125 pounds and provide signed parental permission.
- 17-year-olds must weigh at least 125 pounds.
- Adults 18 or older must weigh at least 110 pounds.
You can make an appointment online or by calling 1-877-340-8777.
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