PEOPLE who have had Covid-19 are being urged to sign up to a new blood plasma donation centre which will open in Reading shortly.
Run by NHS Blood and Transplant it is one of 14 centres that will form part of the world’s largest plasma treatment trial.
The new centre is expected to open in the next few weeks, with the location to be announced shortly.
The NHS said that there is an urgent need for people in the greater Reading area who have had Covid to register as donors now, so that they can be booked into appointments in advance.
It says that the plasma is rich in antibodies, and can therefore be transfused into people who are struggling to develop their own immune response. The antibodies could slow or stop the virus spreading, which could save lives.
There is promising evidence for the effectiveness of convalescent plasma but before general use patient benefit needs to be demonstrated in randomised control trials.
The NHS Blood and Transplant led trials are the world’s largest randomised clinical trials of convalescent plasma.
Donations are urgently needed so that if the trial confirms patient benefit, plasma can be made readily available for general use in the NHS.
Hospitals in the Reading area have transfused five people with Covid-19 convalescent plasma.
Professor David Roberts, NHSBT associate medical director for blood donation, and also one of the trial’s principal investigators, said: “We have so far seen a fantastic response from the public.
“We would love to see people in Reading offering to donate so we can book them into donation appointments now. Donation is safe and easy, and you could save lives.”
Donation takes about 45 minutes. The whole visit – including the donation, snacks and checks – takes about one hour 15 minutes.
The NHS says that it takes between 24 and 48 hours for a donor to replace the plasma given.
All donations are tested for Covid-19 antibodies.
NHSBT is collaborating with the REMAP-CAP and RECOVERY trials.
To volunteer to donate plasma, log on to www.nhsbt.nhs.uk or register online by searching ‘donate plasma’.
