SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) - Convalescent plasma (CCP) donations will soon be phased out at the Central Illinois Community Blood Center.
Officials will the facility said donations will be removed beginning March 26. The demand for the plasma had dropped as COVID-19 hospitalization rates decreased, to the point where current inventories are enough to meet projections of patient needs.
The donor services team with the blood center first started working with donors who recovered from a COVID-19 infection in April 2020. At that time, the first donors in the region who recovered from a COVID-19 infection became eligible to donate plasma.
In 11 months of collections, 2,508 donors gave over 6,600 units of CCP for patient care. Donors who currently have appointments to make a plasma donation on or before March 26 can keep their appointment, but new referrals for donations will no longer be processed.
Convalescent plasma is important because it contains antibodies to the COVID-19 virus. It is used in the treatment of patients who are hospitalized with a virus infection.
CCP units can be stored in a frozen state for up to a year after the donation date.
“If we should see an increase in demand for CCP due to rising infection and hospitalization rates, we are prepared to resume full scale recruitment and collection of CCP donations,” said Jeannine McCullough, vice president of blood services.
