New plasma center opens in Jacksonville as need increases for donations

A new plasma donation center is now open in the Arlington neighborhood in Jacksonville. This comes as the need for plasma is greater than ever.

BioLife Plasma Services has five locations in Florida and will be bringing 60 news jobs to Jacksonville.

Plasma is a lifeline for thousands of people with rare, chronic and complex diseases.

Plasma donated from recovered COVID-19 patients, or those who had the virus but were asymptomatic can be a critical tool to help those patients severely affected by the virus.

Through a simple, low-risk process called plasmapheresis, plasma is separated from the blood and the blood elements are returned back into the donor’s body. In the first two days, BioLife Plasma Services center received more than 200 donations.

One Blood and LifeSouth in Jacksonville also accept plasma.

Right now, LifeSouth is experiencing a critical need for all blood types. The need for convalescent plasma has increased by 500% since the organization started collecting plasma from recovered patients in April and continues to rise as the virus spreads. Donors must be at least 17 or 16 with parental permission, weigh a minimum of 110 pounds and be in good health.

BioLife Plasma Services is located at 9312 Arlington Expy., Jacksonville, FL 32225

Cox Media Group