Bucharest mayor proposes EUR 1,000 vouchers for recovered COVID-19 patients who donate plasma

Bucharest residents who have recovered from COVID-19 could receive EUR 1,000 vouchers if they donate their plasma, according to a project proposed by the capital’s general mayor Gabriela Firea. Beneficiaries would be able to use these vouchers to buy medicines (vitamins, minerals), food recommended after donation, or other such products.

The General Council is to discuss and vote on the project during its Thursday meeting, local Digi24 reported.

“Patients with severe forms of COVID-19 urgently need plasma transfusions from recovered patients who have developed antibodies. The nearly 30,000 patients who have had SARS-CoV-2 infection could save those with more serious forms of infection,” mayor Firea wrote on her Facebook page.

“All countries in the world are fighting a fierce battle to save as many lives as possible. National programs have already been set up to stimulate plasma donation. In Romania, unfortunately, there is no such concrete program. We only have the Health Ministry’s complaints that recovered patients don’t want to donate (up to 400 donated, out of 30,000 cured),” she added.

Gabriela Firea also said that the project’s main objective is convincing “as many recovered patients as possible to be the saviors of those who are suffering.”

At the beginning of this week, health minister Nelu Tataru signed an order that simplifies the plasma donation procedure in Romania. The change came after only 490 Romanians who have recovered from COVID-19 donated plasma in the last three and a half months, Libertatea reported.

The document brings changes to the process of selection of potential blood/plasma donors. For example, those who want to donate plasma have to prove that they have been infected with the new coronavirus and that they are no longer at risk of transmitting the disease. However, donors no longer have to show proof of hospitalization. At the same time, they no longer have to submit two negative RT-PCR tests.

(Photo source: Facebook/Gabriela Firea)