DAYTON — The Community Blood Center in Dayton is no longer collecting convalescent plasma, which has been used during the coronavirus pandemic to help fight the virus.
The blood center became the first in the state to begin collecting the plasma in April last year and stopped collecting it on Saturday, a spokesman said.
“It was a significant challenge and a team effort for CBC staff and multiple community partners to get the CCP program going and make it a success,” said Mark Pompilio, spokesman for the Community Blood Center. “We’re very proud of what we accomplished.”
The change comes as the region has seem a significant drop in hospitalizations and intensive care situations due to the virus. The onset of vaccine availability also has led to more than 24 percent of Ohioans getting at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Pompilio said the use of plasma at the region’s hospitals has declined and the blood center has been able to meet local demand. The blood center has been shipping plasma doses to blood centers that have hospitals experiencing outbreaks in the numbers of cases.
The center also has been shipping frozen plasma to the national stockpile that is ready for use if demand increases.
“That stockpile is now sufficient so we no longer need to contribute to it,” Pompilio said.
The Community Blood Center isn’t the only place facing out collection of plasma. Hoxworth Blood Center at the University of Cincinnati phased out its donation program on March 18.
Cox Media Group
