KEY POINTS Doctor appeals to COVID-19 survivors to volunteer for antibody testing

Volunteers' blood would be used for treating current patients

Treatment would start later this week

A Mount Sinai Hospital doctor appealed to COVID-19 survivors to volunteer and donate their antibody-rich plasma to be tested and to aid those who are still suffering from the virus.

In a New York Post article, the doctor said that the survivors' plasma contain antibodies against the coronavirus bug and if they would allow themselves to be tested and high levels of antibodies are found, the hospital would work with them to bring relief to those patients who have the disease.

"If your antibody levels are high, we will work with you to see if you are both willing and qualified to donate plasma at a nearby blood donation center," the doctor wrote on a Facebook group. "Patients recently recovered from COVID-19 have high levels of immunity in the form of antibodies in their blood that can be transfused into very sick COVID-19 patients in our hospitals."

According to the doctor, the treatment known as the "human convalescent plasma" had been used in previous pandemics and said that they are ready to start treating COVID-19 patients later in the week and need volunteers.

He also said that the appeal is intially for New York City but but he is hoping that the procedure would be nationally available in the next few days or weeks.

Volunteers can send an email to COVIDSerumTesting@mountsinai.org.

The concept of testing COVID-19 survivors' plasma for antibodies was made known when researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai developed an antibody test for COVID-19 and shared the directions online for other laboratories and associated institutions to replicate.

Photo: Drew Hays - Unsplash