Donating Blood Plasma

We understand how relieved you must be to have overcome a diagnosis of COVID-19. No one should face such uncertainty. Now that you are fully recovered, you can help children fight COVID-19 by donating blood plasma at CHOC Children’s.

While researchers are still learning about the disease, it’s possible that those who have recovered from COVID-19 have produced antibodies to protect them from the infection. If so, your plasma would contain these antibodies and may be helpful in the treatment of COVID-19 disease in others.

Registered with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the CHOC Children’s Blood Bank is available to collect and process plasma donations from COVID-19 survivors. These donations can be used for patients throughout the community, in addition to those at CHOC.

Donating plasma is safe and easy – similar to donating blood. If you meet the eligibility requirements, call the CHOC Children’s Blood Bank at 714-509-8339 for more information or to schedule an appointment.

Eligibility Requirements

Potential plasma donors must meet the following requirements:

  1. Donors can be male or female. However, female donors will need to meet some additional requirements that the Blood Bank team will help explain further.
  2. Donors must show evidence of COVID-19 documented by a laboratory test either by a diagnostic test (nasopharyngeal swab) at time of illness or a positive serological test for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies after recovery, if prior diagnostic testing was not performed at the time COVID-19 was suspected.
  3. Donors have complete resolution of symptoms at least 14 days before the donation.
  4. Donors must meet all healthy blood donor eligibility requirements.

Call the Blood Bank at 714-509-8339 for further explanation of these requirements.

Learn more about this investigational treatment

In addition to donated plasma supporting patients throughout the community, CHOC clinicians will use these donations as part of an investigational treatment to treat pediatric patients with COVID-19.

There are currently no approved treatments for or vaccines against COVID-19. People of all ages with pre-existing conditions such as cystic fibrosis, chronic lung diseases and some heart diseases are more at risk of developing serious complications if they contract COVID-19.

Because of that, CHOC aims to infuse pediatric patients that meet specific criteria with plasma donated by patients who have fully recovered from COVID-19. Though researchers are still learning about the disease, it is likely that their plasma contains antibodies to prevent future infection. This – called passive immunity – could help prevent infection in the patient who receives the infusion.

The use of convalescent plasma has been used successfully for other illnesses, but has not yet been approved for use in patients with COVID-19. So, this is considered an investigational treatment that must be approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on an individual basis.

Blood Bank location and hours

The CHOC Children’s Blood Bank is located in the CHOC Commerce Tower.

505 S. Main St. Suite 185 | Orange, CA 92868

Blood Bank hours:
Monday and Wednesday – 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday and Thursday – 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Friday – 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Saturday – 7 a.m. to noon

Call 714-509-8339 to make an appointment