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Recently, news outlets have suggested that people are not allowed to donate source plasma if they have received either of the two experimental COVID-19 vaccines currently available in the U.S. This is incorrect. Current guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends that those who have received one of the available vaccines should not donate convalescent plasma. Healthy and eligible people who have received the COVID-19 vaccine are still encouraged to donate regular source plasma for further manufacture into plasma-derived therapies.

2020 annual report

PPTA congratulates the province of Alberta for formally adopting the Voluntary Blood Donations Repeal Act, which repeals the existing ban on compensated plasma donation. This landmark legislation allows the citizens of Alberta to join the millions of source plasma donors worldwide who receive a modest compensation for their commitment to providing the starting material for lifesaving therapies to treat the patients who need them. These therapies are relied upon by people facing rare, serious, and life-threatening conditions and are often the only treatment for this vulnerable population.

An online roundtable event entitled “Europe’s need for more plasma – before, during and after Covid-19: challenges and possible solutions”, organized and co-hosted by Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Simona Bonafè, (S&D, Italy) and MEP César Luena (S&D, Spain), and moderated by Peter O’Donnell, a Freelance reporter, took place on December 9, 2020.