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Vice President KH Ma’ruf Amin has launched the national campaign for convalescent plasma donation to increase the number of donors. Tens of police officers in East Java’s Jember City having recovered from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) donated their convalescent plasma to help patients infected with the virus.

A total of 78 police officers, who had made a recovery from COVID-19, registered with and underwent stringent blood testing at the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) branch in Jember before donating their convalescent plasma at the Dr Soebandi Regional Hospital in the city.

The PMI has set a target to receive five thousand plasma donors per month, or 60 thousand donors annually. Convalescent plasma from each donor can be given to some 80 patients under medical treatment. PMI announced that it has received around 2,100 plasma donors that have been immediately distributed to a number of Indonesian regions, especially those that are categorized as red zones and given to Covid-19 patients.

There are currently 18 certified PMI blood donor units that accept convalescent plasma donors. The Indonesian Red Cross does not have supplies as it would immediately get distributed to hospitals as soon as a donor arrives.