MADISON, Wis. — Now is the time for COVID-19 survivors to donate their convalescent plasma. 

For Dr. Jasmine Zapata, a pediatrician at UW Health, her New Years plans were a no-brainer.

“I went to donate along with my husband on New Year’s Eve. That was my New Year’s Eve party, our New Year’s Eve date,” she laughed.

2020 was rough for her family. She was working on the front lines, and somehow coronavirus made it home.

“I was in shock when I found out all within a 48-hour period that my mother, myself, my husband, and one of my three children tested positive,” she said. She also lost a family member to the virus early on in the pandemic.

She said at first, it took her some time to stop feeling ashamed that she’s a doctor, taking every precaution possible, but still got the virus. But she did, and moved on to how she could make the best of her diagnosis.

“While I was still recovering, I was planning out ‘how long do I have to wait to donate?’”

Zapata knew all along that she would donate convalescent plasma. It felt like one small silver lining after surviving the virus.

“One out of 800 black Americans dies from COVID-19,” she said. “I had the blessing to be one of those who survives, but there are many people who who don’t.”

Overall, healthcare providers have been a large part of convalescent plasma donations. They know how vital it can be to patients.

“They know the value of this great resource,” said Dr. William Hartman, who leads the convalescent plasma program at UW Health. “And they lead by example.”

After someone beats covid, their plasma contains the antibodies created to fight it.

“We can purify that plasma and give it to a patient in the hospital who sick with COVID-19, with the hope that those antibodies help neutralize and fight off that virus,” said Hartman.

He said while Madison has enough convalescent plasma for its patients, that’s a rare exception. There are shortages nearly everywhere else.

“I do have to commend our citizens here, they've done a tremendous job of donating plasma every time we've asked for it,” he said. “The demand for convalescent plasma exceeds the supply just about anywhere … in our state, in the Midwest, in the country.”

"There's a critical shortage of convalescent plasma in many parts of Wisconsin," Zapata said. "One of those places is Milwaukee, my hometown."

Those shortages have the possibility to get worse. Right now, the FDA does not allow people who got the vaccine to donate convalescent plasma. That means the more people immunized, the smaller the pool of eligible donors.

“That’s something that's an ongoing discussion in the FDA right now,” Hartman said. “To see whether or not vaccinated individuals will be able to donate their plasma. They're not allowed to at this point.”

He hopes the FDA changes course, and allows vaccinated people to donate. Otherwise, far fewer people may be allowed to donate as time goes on. Immunized people can still donate regular plasma, just not the convalescent plasma that helps covid patients.

These doctors said if you’ve survived COVID, now is the time to help someone else do the same.

“The fact that you are even able to be alive right now thinking about if you should donate or not, is a blessing and a privilege,” said Zapata. “You can save a life.”

Zapata stressed that donating is easy and painless. It took about ninety minutes to two hours for her.

If you’d like to donate, you can find more information from the CDC here.