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Recovered patients urged to donate plasma

18 Apr 2020 By SHADDAD AL MUSALMY

To keep up with the speed of the pandemic, doctors across the world are leaning on plasma therapy. In line with this, the Department of Blood Bank Services at the Ministry of Health (MoH) is appealing to COVID-19 recovered patients to come forward and donate plasma and help those affected by the virus. 

‘The Department of Blood Bank Services invites those who have recovered from COVID-19 to volunteer to donate plasma. Interested donors can contact the department via WhatsApp 94555648 or phone 24502324,’ a statement from the blood bank said. 

Last week, The Royal Hospital successfully performed a procedure of convalescent plasma extraction and transfusion from people who have recovered from COVID-19.  

The Central Blood Bank laboratories used the plasma from COVID-19 recovered patients to treat critically ill patients admitted to The Royal Hospital. In his comments about Oman’s experience in applying convalescent plasma transfusion therapy on COVID-19 patients, H E Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Obaid al S’aeedi, Minister of Health, said plasma was extracted and transfused in a number of patients. 

“In cooperation with the Central Blood Bank and The Royal Hospital, plasma transfer was recently initiated and the results will be unveiled in the next few days,” he told reporters. According to the current available data, the engineering of a successful COVID-19 vaccine is likely to take at least nine to 12 months from now, said H E Dr Sa’eedi. 

“Given the nature of COVID-19, the discovery of such a vaccine will definitely be a major medical breakthrough.”

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