Plasma stock dwindling, please donate urgently: Goa minister

PANAJI: Health minister Vishwajit Rane on Friday appealed for more former Covid-19 patients to donate plasma, as there are only 14 packs remaining to treat patients.
“We appeal to people who have recovered from Covid-19 to donate plasma,” said Rane, who highlighted that it was plasma therapy that saved Ayush minister Shripad Naik from the “throes of death”.
Rane said the combination of Remdesivir plus plasma is working well, and again appealed to ex-Covid patients to come forward to donate plasma so that more lives can be saved.
“At one time we were worried (about Naik),” Rane said about the minister’s condition before being administered convalescent plasma therapy (CPT). So far, 61 persons have donated plasma, but only 14 packs are currently available.
Naik, who tested positive last week, is under treatment in Manipal hospital, and since CPT, his condition has improved dramatically, sources said. A team from AIIMS had also flown down to review his treatment.
“Today there was a request from a private hospital for plasma, and we immediately dispatched (a packet) to save a life”, he said, explaining the necessity for more donors to come forth.
A senior GMC doctor said that not many people are coming forward to donate plasma despite their appeal. GMC staff have been deployed to contact recovered patients and convince them to donate plasma. A vehicle is also sent to pick them up if required, he said. “Yet, people fear to donate plasma,” he said.