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Coronavirus | Convalescent Plasma Collection Program | Coronavirus and the COVID-19 Vaccine | Armed Services Blood Program
Top Department of Defense (DOD) leaders came together to recognize individuals and teams across the DOD for their effort in meeting the department’s goal of collecting 10,000 units of COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) by September 30.
Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Tom McCaffery; and Army Lt. Gen. (Dr.) Ronald J. Place, director of the Defense Health Agency, hosted a recognition ceremony at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, for the individuals and teams that met the goal set by then Secretary of Defense Mark Esper.
“Your success can be attributed to the many hands that worked together to deliver immediate care,” Norquist said during his keynote address. “I congratulate you for achieving thousands of units in such a short amount of time — that is no small feat. It is a testament to your hard work to collect daily collections of at blood donor centers and your willingness to venture into hot spots for mobile blood drives. It would also not be possible without the generosity of approximately 3,000 donors who participated in this campaign.”
On June 1, DHA launched donation drives through its 20 Armed Services Blood Program centers across the continental United States and in Hawaii, Guam, and Germany to collect plasma from patients who have fully recovered from COVID-19 to support the development of an effective treatment against the disease. By the September deadline, DOD had exceeded the goal, obtaining 10,745 total units of procured and donated CCP from active-duty personnel, military retirees, their families, and non-DOD civilians.
“Our medical researchers and infectious disease specialists in this country went to work to understand the disease and what possible treatments we could develop to counter it,” said McCaffery in his opening remarks. “And that is where all of you came in, once again, bringing your expertise and your skills to bear to help offer a life-saving treatment – convalescent plasma – in the middle of a global pandemic,” he added before introducing the deputy secretary of defense.