Hadassah Hospital was the first medical institution in the world to test a passive vaccine treatment for COVID-19 on a patient by administering Immunoglobulin G (IgG).

The hospital began harvesting plasma from recovered coronavirus patients two months ago with the hope of using the antibody-rich plasma as a treatment for severely ill coronavirus patients.

The Jerusalem Beis Din and the Eidah Chareidis encouraged members of the Chareidi community who had recovered from the coronavirus to donate their plasma and Hadassah harvested 40 liters of plasma, enough to develop serum for up to 70 patients.

The plasma was transferred to the Israeli Kamada biopharmaceutical company, which develops and manufactures plasma-based drugs, and it produced the first dose of human plasma-based coronavirus treatment.

The world’s first passive vaccine was administered to a critically ill young woman with severe underlying medical issues whose lungs have suffered extreme damage from the coronavirus and has not responded to any other treatments.

The patient’s condition stabilized several hours after receiving the treatment, and doctors are cautiously optimistic that her condition will continue to improve.

Immimmunoglobulins (IgG) produced from plasma, more commonly known as a passive vaccine, refers to the process of receiving antibodies formed by a patient who suffered from the disease in question and then recovered, while an active vaccine refers to the process of being injected with a weakened or dead form of a virus, “tricking” the body into producing antibodies.

Unlike active vaccines, which are administered by nurses at health clinics, passive vaccines are usually administered in hospitals.

Hadassah carried out the project with the approval of the Health Ministry and the cooperation of Magen David Adom (MDA).

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)