No. To protect our donors' health and minimize risk of donating more often than is permitted, donors are not allowed to donate at more than one center. All plasma donation centers communicate regularly with one another to verify that donors are complying with this policy.

Those living within the donor recruitment area that includes Mexico or Canada are eligible to donate at that Grifols plasma donor center, as long as the residents meet the donation criteria and provide the required identification and documentation.

Right now we're focused on collecting plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients. We will produce the hyperimmune globulin and begin clinical testing as soon as possible.

Because plasma donation takes time - the first visit for a donation can take up to two hours and subsequent donations about an hour - donors are compensated because of this time and commitment involved in being a regular plasma donor. At all Grifols plasma donor centers commitment fees are put on a Grifols pre-paid debit card.

Donors will donate between 660 to 880 milliliters of plasma based on their weight. Like normal source plasma donors, convalescent plasma donors are able to donate as frequently as twice in a seven-day period with a full day in-between donations.

All potential donors should call 1-866-END-CV19 where they will be prescreened by trained Grifols specialists who will verify that the interested donors have a diagnosis made with a test (nasal swab or blood) and complete resolution of COVID-19 symptoms at least 28 days prior to donation, or complete resolution of symptoms at least 14 days prior to donation along with a negative molecular test for COVID-19, as recommended by the FDA.

People interested in potentially donating should first call the 1-866-ENDCV19 number and the call center will direct them to a local Grifols plasma donor center where they will be screened and must meet Grifols' routine eligibility criteria for normal source plasma. This eligibility information is available in the How to Donate section.

During this exceptional time we do not anticipate turning away any donor who wants to make a difference and meets our criteria.

Every effort matters in these exceptional times and we are glad to see a role for convalescent plasma. Grifols is volunteering its expertise and resources to produce a hyperimmune globulin as a potential treatment for COVID-19 and is committed to bring it to patients as soon as possible. All efforts to fight this devastating disease are welcome.

Potential donors must have a permanent address in the cities where we are beginning convalescent plasma collection. Potential donors in these cities should contact the Grifols call center which will direct them to the nearest Grifols plasma donation center.

Grifols is uniquely positioned to bring a hyperimmune globulin to clinical trial before anyone else, and time matters in these exceptional times.

The company already has the collection expertise in epidemic settings thanks to the Ebola experience. It also has operational a specifically designed and constructed building for the processing of immune globulins to treat infectious diseases in our licensed production in Clayton, N.C.

Grifols is initially focusing convalescent plasma collection efforts in these cities because they had a high number of COVID-19 cases earlier in the outbreak. Therefore, these cities have a significant number of recovered people whose plasma is potentially high in virus-neutralizing antibodies, which are needed to produce the hyperimmune globulin.

These are also cities where Grifols has donor centers. Additional COVID-19 donation locations will be announced in the near future.

Grifols is fully committed to using its expertise in plasma to produce a treatment targeting COVID-19 and is currently working on partnerships to complement our own outreach efforts. Grifols is using its network to raise awareness and talking with hospitals that have reached out to join efforts.

We are evaluating additional cities and plan on adding more locations in the near future where we have plasma donor centers or other partners.

Potential donors must have a permanent address within the donor recruitment area of the Grifols donation center. Potential donors can call the Grifols call center to learn more. At this time we are not planning on providing transportation to potential donors.

The health and safety of all of our employees and donors is Grifols' top priority. We have implemented protocols as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

We are limiting the number of donors in our centers by taking more appointments, seating donors every other donation bed and temporarily reducing the number of available seats in the lobby. We are also enhancing existing cleaning protocols, monitoring employee and donor temperatures, and following guidelines on hand hygiene,  and all of our locations require all individuals (e.g., donors, employees, and anyone else) that enter to wear an appropriate face covering.

Convalescent plasma donors should contact their center directly as some who get the vaccine may still be eligible.

At this moment, the vaccines approved in the U.S. do not require a wait period to donate plasma. In general, if you feel okay you can donate plasma as long as you meet all other eligibility requirements. CDC has made recommendations that all COVID-19 vaccine recipients be observed for a minimum of 15 minutes for any immediate adverse reactions.

Grifols does not have a vaccine and does not profit from others getting vaccinated.

Please contact your personal healthcare provider.

Yes, even after you get your vaccine, you will need to keep wearing a mask that covers your nose and mouth, washing your hands often, and staying at least 6 feet away from other people you do not live with. This gives you and others the best protection from catching the virus. Right now, experts don't know how long the vaccine will protect you, so it's a good idea to continue following the guidelines from CDC. In addition, not everyone will be able to get vaccinated right away, so it's still important to protect yourself and others.

At this time, Grifols is not offering the vaccine to donors.

The federal government has been working with manufacturers to develop, manufacture, and distribute the vaccine directly to states and jurisdictions across the country. To help guide decisions about how to distribute the initial limited supplies of COVID-19 vaccine, CDC and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices have published recommendations on which groups should be vaccinated first. However, individual states and jurisdictions will ultimately decide who will receive the vaccines and when.

Currently, Biomat USA does not require donors to be vaccinated and the decision to receive the COVID-19 vaccine is voluntary.

Individuals who receive the COVID vaccine can donate routine normal source as long as they feel okay and meet all other eligibility requirements.

Yes. Plasma donors are compensated for the time commitment involved in being a crucially important regular plasma donor. Donors are typically paid per donation on a pre-paid debit card, but rates and payment type vary depending on location. Contact your local plasma donation center for more information.

Although medical emergencies are rare at Grifols, on-site medical specialists are well trained to handle them when they arise. Donors' vital signs and blood are checked before every donation to confirm that blood levels are acceptable for donating and that donating will not cause adverse health effects.

All Grifols plasma centers are licensed and regulated by the FDA and other, international agencies. Each plasma donation center is inspected and certified by those agencies every two years in addition to being monitored by the International Quality Plasma Program (IQPP). State health officials also inspect plasma centers to verify compliance with certain laboratory testing requirements and procedures. Grifols also has a robust internal regulatory program that routinely inspects and verifies the company's quality assurance requirements.

Pathogen safety has always been a core value and objective for Grifols. We are vigilant in our research of new and existing pathogen variants and mutations, and we routinely test our manufacturing processes and methods for the safety of our products. We also collaborate with industry member companies, through the Plasma Protein Therapeutics Association's Pathogen Safety Steering Committee, and with leading health authorities around the world. Our active internal pathogen safety group conducts careful and continuous scrutiny of scientific publications and daily news addressing new and emerging pathogens.

Important Safety Information
Because Grifols products are made from human plasma, they may carry a risk of transmitting infectious agents, such as viruses, and, theoretically, the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) agent.

Grifols' best recruiting tool is word of mouth. We provide a clean, comfortable and welcoming environment to our donors so they have a pleasant experience that they can tell others about. Grifols also places professional advertisements in local newspapers and on TV, radio and websites to inform prospective donors about the benefits of donation.

Plasma donated at Grifols plasma donation centers is used to produce medicines to treat or prevent serious diseases and conditions in multiple therapeutic areas: pulmonology, hematology, immunology, neurology, infectious diseases and shock and trauma. Grifols plasma medicines are administered by a provider via infusion, or individually through a subcutaneous injection. Many of these conditions require regular and lifelong treatment with plasma-derived medicines.

Donating plasma takes longer than donating blood due to thorough health screening requirements. The first plasma donation can take up to three hours and includes a physician examination, comprehensive medical screening and testing, and verification of donor identification and local address. Return donations typically take between one-and-a-half to two hours and also include a donor health screening, donor verification and testing.

A lot. About 130 plasma donations are needed to treat an adult with immune deficiency for one year, 900 are needed to treat an adult with alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency for one year and approximately 1,300 donations are needed to treat an adult with hemophilia for one year.

Federal regulations allow individuals to donate plasma as frequently as two times within a seven-day period with at least 48 hours between each donation.

It's recommended that you wait two to three days after donating plasma before you donate whole blood. And after you've donated a unit of whole blood, the recommendation is to wait eight weeks (56 days) before donating plasma.

If your deferral is of a permanent nature, we will let you know. Otherwise, the deferral time depends upon the reason for deferral. Before each plasma donation, you'll be given a health screening and medical interview. That's when we'll be able to determine if you're eligible to donate on that particular day.

Blood donation and plasma donation have many of the same FDA guidelines, so it's likely that if you're ineligible for one, you're ineligible for both. But in some rare instances you may be able to donate plasma even if you're not eligible to donate blood, so contact the Grifols plasma center closest to you to discuss your eligibility.

No, it's not. Plasma can differ in the kinds and amounts of antibodies it contains. If a donor has specific antibodies in sufficient quantities, he or she may be considered a special donor. People may also have unique blood types that make them special donors as well. Learn more about our Specialty Plasma Programs.

Yes. Thousands of people safely and painlessly donate plasma every day. Plasma donation is performed in a highly controlled, sterile environment by professionally trained medical team members following strict safety guidelines for each donor's comfort and well-being. Grifols uses sterile, one-time-use materials that are disposed of immediately. Each donation yields approximately 660 to 800 milliliters of plasma.

Donating plasma is a low-risk procedure with minimal or no adverse effects. Before donating, you'll receive information and instruction on the plasmapheresis process from Grifols plasma donation center team members. They will discuss the risks of adverse reactions, injuries and events that may occur during or after plasma donation, and they will give you the opportunity to ask any questions you may have. Contact your Grifols plasma donation center for more information.

Our health screenings include having a small blood sample taken from your finger, having your vital signs checked and being asked a series of questions. We conduct a screening every time you donate to make sure you are in general good health and meet the plasma donation criteria.

People who are disqualified from donating plasma are known as deferred donors. A prospective donor may be deferred at any point. Whether a person is deferred temporarily or permanently depends on the specific reason for disqualification. A permanently deferred donor is forever disqualified from donating plasma. Donors who are temporarily deferred will be told their names have been put on a deferral registry, which means they will not be able to donate until the temporary deferral period has expired. At that point in time, the donor may visit a Grifols plasma donation center to be re-entered into the system and become eligible to donate again. All eligible donors must satisfy all donation criteria and requirements.

Our donors are proud and passionate about their roles in helping patients around the world. Our patients are proud of our committed donors and the many Grifols employees involved in producing products that improve their lives. We're proud of our roles in helping patients live better lives. And we want this passion to extend to everyone involved.

Within 30 minutes of the plasma donation, samples are drawn and frozen in an on-site freezer. Once test results come in, all approved plasma units are transported to a Grifols warehousing facility, where they are held for a minimum of 60 days to confirm the donor's health and the safety of the plasma. After the final checks and testing are performed, plasma donations are sent to Grifols production facilities in Los Angeles, California; Clayton, North Carolina; or Barcelona, Spain, where the process of producing life-saving plasma medicines begins. It takes up to 12 months from the donation to the time the product is available to a patient.

Individuals who test positive for these viruses are immediately referred to a physician or clinic for formal medical diagnosis testing and treatment. They are also permanently deferred and excluded from donating plasma and are added to the National Donor Deferral Registry.

Hyperimmune globulins are plasma derived-medicines that are effective in the treatment of severe acute infections. Through the concentration of antibodies from plasma collected from recovered COVID-19 individuals, the hyperimmune globulin can offer precise and consistent dosing with high purity, high potency and a strong safety profile that may help current patients' immune systems respond to the infection. This will provide treating physicians with more predictability against the virus that causes COVID-19.

Grifols will produce this hyperimmune globulin and then it will undergo controlled clinical trials with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to evaluate its safety and efficacy as a viable treatment for COVID-19.

Convalescent plasma is an antibody-rich product made from plasma donated by people who have recovered from the disease caused by the virus.

Some of our plasma donation centers use Donor Doc^®, a computer-assisted self-interview application. This touch-screen kiosk will help you complete the mandatory health history questions prior to every donation. Additional Donor Doc^® info will be provided to you at your donation center. If your specific location doesn't have Donor Doc^®, your health history questions will be asked by one of our donor processor team members.

Grifols is a global healthcare company with a 70-year legacy of improving people's health and well-being through the development of life-saving plasma medicines, diagnostics systems and hospital pharmacy products. Our company works in more than 100 countries worldwide and is headquartered in Barcelona, Spain. Grifols is a leader in plasma collection, with a network of approximately 150 plasma donation centers in the U.S., and a leading producer of plasma-derived medicines. We provide a comprehensive range of transfusion medicine and hemostasis and immunoassay solutions for clinical laboratories, blood banks and transfusion centers, and we are a recognized leader in transfusion medicine.

Plasma is the liquid portion of blood that contains water, salts, enzymes, antibodies and other proteins. It's the single largest component (about 55%) of human blood and is what remains after red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets and other cellular components are removed.

Grifols provides donor center employees with competitive salaries and a full range of employee benefits such as healthcare coverage, retirement savings options and continuing education. We have a rigorous training and career progression program that focuses on career advancement within the company. Grifols also encourages continuous learning for plasma center employees in an environment that focuses on additional opportunities, development and innovation.

Our positions range from entry-level positions for individuals with high school diplomas seeking career opportunities in the healthcare field to jobs for medically trained professionals – most of which are full-time positions. On-the-job training is offered for all positions, and all Grifols donation centers offer opportunities for advancement and cross-functional training. Many of these skills are readily transferable to other healthcare settings such as hospitals, doctors' offices and clinical laboratories. Interested in a rewarding career with Grifols? Search available positions now.

Staying hydrated and eating properly beforehand are important parts of a healthy plasma donation. Make sure your diet is high in protein, and avoid foods high in fat. Drink plenty of water or juice, and avoid alcohol and caffeine on the day before and the day of your donation.

Getting a good night's sleep before your donation and not smoking (for at least 30 minutes) before a donation are also important. Find out more about what to expect.

Similar to donating blood, you will be comfortably reclined during the donation. A needle will be placed into a vein in your arm and your blood collected into sterile equipment (that is used only once). The plasma is separated from the red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets, which are then returned to you through the same needle in your arm. At the end of the donation, you will be given fluids to help replace the plasma, and because your red blood cells are returned to you, you shouldn't feel weak or tired after donating. Feel free to bring a book or magazine to read or watch one of our TVs while you're donating.

All donors must be screened for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C at each donation using nucleic amplified testing (NAT), a state-of-the-art testing method that tests for the DNA particles of the virus. In addition, each plasma donation is tested for antibodies that the body produces in response to a virus. These screening tests are performed at the Grifols laboratories and are not formal medical diagnosis tests. 

An applicant donor is a donor who has donated one time and whose test results have not been received. That donor's plasma is never used in the production of any Grifols medicine and is destroyed if the donor does not return for a second donation or has a positive test result. A qualified donor has donated two times without positive test results and has continued to donate with less than a six-month period between donations.

Grifols donor centers provide significant benefits to the communities we operate in – including property taxes, jobs for local residents, contributions to the local economy and community engagement. Grifols also contributes through charitable donations, volunteer events and other outreach activities, programs and projects that help create safe and attractive environments for local residents and visitors. 

Plasma donors represent a cross-section of society. The thorough selection process yields donors who are healthy members of the local community who are seeking to help patients with life-threatening illnesses while supplementing their incomes.

Grifols owns and operates the largest network of plasma donor centers in the world. This includes approximately 150 centers in the United States under three platforms: Biomat USA, Inc., PlasmaCare, Inc., and Talecris Plasma Resources, Inc. Our donor centers operate in 34 states across the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Northwest, Southeast and South. Find a donation center close to you.

Plasma donors must weigh at least 110 pounds (50kg), be in generally good health, and meet the age requirements of 18-69 years old.

Potential donors must undergo a thorough screening and selection process that begins with a medical exam. At every donation, donors must complete a comprehensive health history questionnaire to rule out individuals who engage in high-risk behaviors or live unhealthy lifestyles. Vital signs are checked at each donation, and blood samples are taken for screening tests to rule out transmissible diseases such as hepatitis and HIV and to check for proper liver function. Donors always come in contact with a minimum of four trained team members who assess their suitability to donate.

To be eligible to donate, you must have a valid photo ID, proof of residence and proof of Social Security number or Border Crossing Card (B1/B2 VISA/BBC). To find out which documents you need to bring, check out our First-Time Donor Checklist.

There are many reasons you should donate plasma, but you only need one. Plasma is in high demand – and it cannot be created in a laboratory or synthetically produced. Knowing you've made a personal contribution toward improving the health of others is one of the most rewarding aspects of donating. Also, we know your time is valuable, so that's why we provide compensation for the time you spend donating.

Yes. Every donor must be screened for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C at each donation using nucleic amplified testing (NAT), a state-of-the-art method that tests for DNA particles of viruses. Each donation is tested using a serological test that looks for antibodies that the body produces in response to a virus. These screening tests are performed at Grifols laboratories and are not formal medical diagnosis tests.