As in a similar trial in the United States, UK gay and bisexual men have been banned from donating to a COVID-19 plasma trial.
ITV reports: “Doctors at London's Guy's and St Thomas's Hospital are aiming to use the plasma from recovered coronavirus patients to treat others with the disease. It is hoped that the possible treatment, known as convalescent plasma, will help Covid-19 patients whose bodies are not producing enough antibodies to fight the disease. But any man who has had sex with another man within the past three months is excluded from donating their plasma, in line with the current rules for donating blood.”
“I have quite a few gay friends who are recovering from COVID-19 right now, so the group is quickly expanding,” said Peter Staley, the veteran AIDS activist whose groundbreaking work helped erode medical and regulatory barriers for early drugs to fight HIV, to Mother Jones last month. “The fact that you are being blocked from helping in a incredibly positive way to save lives, this is just utter craziness, and for me, as a long-term AIDS activist, it just makes me want to scream, because folks may not realize this, but a lot of what AIDS activists helped build is now being used to fight COVID.”
