Instagram / ron_nirenberg
On Saturday, Mayor Ron Nirenberg posted an Instagram photo of Paul Basaldua, whom the mayor identified as a friend. It shows Basaldua holding four bags of yellowish fluid chock full of potentially life-saving antibodies.
In the post, Niernberg shouted out Basaldua for donating blood plasma and spread the word to San Antonio's COVID-19 survivors that they can make a huge difference by doing the same. Plasma therapy involves transferring the antibodies from a survivor to an infected person to help them fight off the virus.
"If you’ve recovered from COVID-19, I hope you consider calling the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center at (210) 731-2719 to make an appointment to donate. Your plasma may be able to be used to help others fight off the disease," Nirenberg's post reads.
So far, Basaldua has donated five bags of his plasma to aid those suffering from the disease. He plans to contribute more.
According to the South Texas Blood and Tissue Center's website, "Individuals may be eligible to donate convalescent plasma if they were confirmed with a prior diagnosis for COVID-19 by a laboratory test. Potential donors must wait 14 days after a negative test or be completely free of symptoms for 28 days."
This is yet another reason better testing capacity is needed, as Texas rushes to be the first state to re-open despite ranking low in per-capita testing.
You don't need to survive COVID-19 to help out with the blood supply, however.
The cancellation of large-scale blood donation drives has threatened the supply of whole blood hospitals need on a daily basis. Almost any healthy individual can donate whole blood in a socially distanced setting by scheduling an appointment through the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center for a series of ongoing blood drives.
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