US authorises blood plasma treatment against coronavirus; Trump hails move

The US Food and Drug Administration(FDA) on Sunday gave emergency authorization for doctors to use blood plasma from recovered coronavirus patients as a treatment against COVID-19.

"This product may be effective in treating COVID-19 and... the known and potential benefits of the product outweigh the known and potential risks of the product," FDA said in a statement.

Hailing the development, US President Donald Trump said: "Pleased to make a truly historic announcement, in our battle against China virus, that will save countless lives. FDA (Food & Drug Administration) has issued an emergency use authorisation for a treatment known as convalescent plasma."

Trump said it was "only made possible because of Operation Warp Speed", while adding, "We are years ahead of approvals. If we went by the speed levels of the past administration, it would be 2-3 yrs behind where we're today."

The US president said that development on vaccines would be out soon. Trump had earlier linked the FDA to the “deep state” conspiracy theory, saying that the FDA was making "it very difficult for drug companies to get people to test the vaccines and therapeutics."

The US president had said that "they are hoping to delay the answer until after 3 November" when the US elections take place while asking the US agency to focus on "speed and saving lives".

The FDA had earlier announced convalescent plasma transfusions for critically ill coronavirus patients and for clinical trials as reports claimed 70,000 virus patients had received the treatment.

The United States is the worst-hit country with the virus accounting for over 176,700 deaths and more than 5.7 million infected cases.