There is still no effective vaccine against the coronavirus on the market. The US government has now approved the treatment of Covid-19 patients with blood plasma. The effectiveness of the therapy is still pending.
The US government is issuing an emergency license for the treatment of Covid-19 with blood plasma containing antibodies against the coronavirus. The US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday evening (local time) in the White House. In the so-called immune plasma therapy, patients receive plasma from people who have formed antibodies after a natural infection. Plasma has been used for over 100 years and is considered safe for patients. However, it is still unclear how effective plasma actually is in reducing the Covid mortality rate.
Trump hailed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) emergency approval for plasma as a “very historic breakthrough”, despite the fact that the treatment is already widespread in the United States. As part of a special clinical license, around 70,000 people have already received plasma, as the leading Mayo Clinic explains on its website. In addition, the emergency approval does not correspond to a formal approval for which much higher hurdles apply. In addition, the supply of plasma is limited, as it can only be obtained from donated blood from convalescent patients.
The idea behind the plasma treatment makes sense: Because there is still no vaccine that stimulates the formation of antibodies against Sars-CoV-2, patients are given antibodies from people who have formed them after a natural infection. Studies are ongoing around the world on the process, including in Germany. So far, however, there has been no convincing evidence as to whether and how much plasma Covid actually helps patients.
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