OneBlood, the not-for-profit blood center serving Florida, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina and South Carolina, is testing all donations for the COVID-19 antibody.
“In addition to donors learning if they have the antibody, OneBlood will be identifying additional people who can be COVID-19 convalescent plasma donors,” said Susan Forbes, OneBlood’s senior vice president of corporate communications and public relations, in a news release.
Plasma donors with the COVID-19 antibody can help critically ill coronavirus patients. By transfusing plasma with coronavirus antibodies into a patient fighting the virus it can help boost the patient’s immune system and potentially help them recover.
With no cure or vaccine to prevent coronavirus, doctors are turning to convalescent plasma to help treat their critically ill coronavirus patients.
The test is authorized by the Food and Drug Administration and will indicate if the donor’s immune system has produced antibodies to the virus, regardless of whether they showed symptoms.
Donors will be able to see their results about 48 hours after donating by logging into their donor portal at oneblood.org.
OneBlood plans to provide the antibody testing for the foreseeable future.
COVID-19 antibody testing will be performed in addition to the standard infectious disease testing.
With social distancing measures that OneBlood has in place, donors are required to make an appointment to donate. Appointments can be made online at oneblood.org.