KINGSTON, Jamaica — Commissioner of Police Major General Antony Anderson yesterday donated blood plasma at the Tony Thwaites Wing of the University Hospital of West Indies (UHWI) to help patients recover from COVID-19.

“It made sense to give some of my plasma to help someone who is seriously ill in the hospital,” Anderson commented, as he encouraged others who have recovered from the virus to do the same.

He also commended the staff at the University Hospital for taking on this initiative to help others.

Dr Nwokocha, consultant haematologist at the UHWI said that the process to donate plasma takes about two hours, from screening to donation.

She went on further to say that the process is safe and all precautions are taken to ensure the safety and comfort of all donors.

Nwokocha encouraged people who have recovered from COVID-19 to contact the hospital to arrange for plasma donation.

“[The] persons who recovered from COVID, recovered because they developed anibodies to fight against COVID…usually in the plasma,” said the haematologist.

She explained that the process is about transferring immunity from someone who has recovered from the virus and giving disease-fighting antibodies to a sick patient to help in the recovery process.

The plasma extracted from Anderson will be given to someone as soon as a match is found. The commissioner recently recovered from COVID-19 after testing positive in August.