Sign up for our daily briefing
Make your busy days simpler with Axios AM/PM. Catch up on what's new and why it matters in just 5 minutes.
Stay on top of the latest market trends
Subscribe to Axios Markets for the latest market trends and economic insights. Sign up for free.
Sports news worthy of your time
Binge on the stats and stories that drive the sports world with Axios Sports. Sign up for free.
Tech news worthy of your time
Get our smart take on technology from the Valley and D.C. with Axios Login. Sign up for free.
Get the inside stories
Get an insider's guide to the new White House with Axios Sneak Peek. Sign up for free.
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Want a daily digest of the top Denver news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Denver
Want a daily digest of the top Des Moines news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Des Moines
Want a daily digest of the top Twin Cities news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Twin Cities
Want a daily digest of the top Tampa Bay news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa Bay
Want a daily digest of the top Charlotte news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Charlotte
A woman finishes donating convalescent plasma in Seattle in April. Photo: Karen Ducey/Getty Images
The FDA's controversial decision on Sunday to issue an emergency use authorization for convalescent plasma to treat COVID-19 patients has put new attention on the process of giving plasma.
Why it matters: If convalescent plasma does help mitigate the disease — a big and entirely unsettled if — then donating could be one of the most important things recovered patients could do. But the experience is a little different from standard blood donation.
Whole blood — what most of us are used to donating at blood drives — is, as the name suggests, everything in your blood: red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets and plasma.
- Plasma is the straw-colored liquid component that makes up blood. Roughly 90% of it is water, but the rest includes nutrients, minerals, hormones, proteins — and antibodies that help fight infection.
How it works: Plasma donation, though, is a little different, as I learned when giving convalescent plasma after recovering from a (thankfully mild) COVID-19 infection this spring.
- To make a convalescent plasma donation at the New York Blood Center, I first needed to show proof of my positive COVID-19 test results, as well as indicate that I had been symptom-free for at least 14 days.
- After an on-site test to prove that I actually had antibodies that could be shared — and a very extensive quiz about any past behaviors that might cause my blood to be tainted and rejected — I was taken into the plasma donation room.
- There a sterile needle was inserted into my left arm (I'm right-handed), and my blood was siphoned off into an apheresis machine, where it spun in a centrifuge that separated out the plasma. The remainder of my blood flowed back into my arm.
- The donation process was no more uncomfortable than giving whole blood — the needle does pinch, but it was longer, about 50 minutes, compared to 10 for whole blood.
Of note: If you'd rather have the process explained to you by Walter White, you can watch this video from July of actor Bryan Cranston giving COVID-19 convalescent plasma.
The bottom line: What I don't know is whether the plasma I donated made a difference for a COVID-19 patient. The science — despite the FDA's move — remains far from clear.