“the Red Cross has discontinued our convalescent plasma collection program.”
Convalescent plasma just did not work out as an effective treatment. Other treatments (like Regeneron antibody infusions) proved to be much better.
The disease can progress quickly, and there is no time to risk less effective treatment approaches. Go right for the antibody infusion, as soon as you can, if you get sick with COVID.
“Convalescent plasma just did not work out as an effective treatment.”
Yes, that’s been apparent for some time. What I was trying to understand is the false claim that a person who has received one of the vaccines cannot donate blood, or donate convalescent plasma. Neither is, or has been true, and it takes 30 seconds to go to the Red Cross website and find that the claim is false.
This seems to be tied to a second false claim that is circulating widely which roughly stated is that “the vaccines reduce neutralizing antibodies in previously infected but recovered individuals, and the “fact” that one cannot donate blood if one has received a vax is offered as proof of this.”
This is repeated ad nauseum here and by people I know in real life. One can easily find that this is phoney, but it has staying power. I’m trying to figure out what that is.