NZ Blood is stockpiling plasma from recovered Covid-19 patients so it can be used in international clinical trials or more widely if it's proven to be an effective treatment.
This week the US food and drug administration issued an emergency order for the use of so called convalescent Covid-19 plasma in hospitalised patient saying the known and potential benefits of the product outweigh the risks.
Convalescent plasma contains antibodies from the infection someone has recently recovered from and has been used before against SARs, the flu and other virus.
Chief Medical Officer for NZ Blood Dr Sarah Morley explains exactly what the service is collecting and from whom.
