Scientists develop plasma shot that could prevent coronavirus, but say feds and makers won’t act

Neal Browning receives a shot in the first-stage safety study clinical trial of a potential vaccine for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, Monday, March 16, 2020, at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle. Browning is the second patient to receive the shot in the study. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

by: Los Angeles Times

Posted: Jul 10, 2020 / 08:37 AM PDT

Updated: Jul 10, 2020 / 08:37 AM PDT

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It might be the next best thing to a coronavirus vaccine.

Scientists have devised a way to use the antibody-rich blood plasma of COVID-19 survivors for an upper-arm injection that they say could inoculate people against the virus for months.

Using technology that’s been proven effective in preventing other diseases such as hepatitis A, the injections would be administered to high-risk healthcare workers, nursing home patients, or even at public drive-through sites — potentially protecting millions of lives, the doctors and other experts say.

The two scientists who spearheaded the proposal — an 83-year-old shingles researcher and his counterpart, an HIV gene therapy expert — have garnered widespread support from leading blood and immunology specialists, including those at the center of the nation’s COVID-19 plasma research.

EXCLUSIVE: Months ago, scientists offered a plan to use coronavirus survivors’ blood to make an upper-arm shot that could inoculate people for months, until a vaccine exists. But HHS officials rejected the plan, and manufacturers declined to make them. 1/ https://t.co/dhl9imMjET
— Emily Baumgaertner (@Emily_Baum) July 10, 2020

There could be a financial dimension: Pharmaceutical companies knew better than to invest in a shot that might soon be replaced by a vaccine, critics say. They're pushing for gov. grants — saying the price tag is a tiny fraction of Op. Warp Speed. 3/ https://t.co/dhl9imMjET
— Emily Baumgaertner (@Emily_Baum) July 10, 2020

Fauci told me short-term immunity shots were “very attractive,” but said hospital plasma treatments must prove efficacious first. Critics ask why the two can’t run in tandem trials, given the number of lives on the line. 4/4 https://t.co/dhl9imMjET
— Emily Baumgaertner (@Emily_Baum) July 10, 2020

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