• by Tanya Gazdik , May 21, 2020

Vitalant, a national independent nonprofit transfusion medicine organization, is asking COVID-19 survivors to donate blood and plasma.

The PSA campaign, which was donated by LRW Group Companies, is a prompt to take action and save lives.

It includes two 45-second spots with the tagline “Because of You, Life Doesn’t Stop." One spot is geared toward blood donations, while the other is geared toward plasma. 

Copy is superimposed over stock images. The plasma spot includes: “To the COVID-19 survivors: You have something that the world needs now. Hope. Your blood contains plasma that could fight COVID-19 -- and save lives. So we can come back stronger and safer than before. Because of you, life doesn’t stop.”

The copy for the blood spot is slightly different: “It seems life as we know it is on hold. But life doesn’t stop. Because we won’t let it. Your blood can save lives. So we can do this. And this. And more of this. Because of you, life doesn’t stop.”

The campaign also includes a social component on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook using the hashtag #VitalToLife.

Vitalant's network of 125 donation centers in concert with its hospital partners, operating under U.S. Food and Drug Administration investigational protocols, are collecting and transfusing plasma from eligible donors convalescing from COVID-19. 

Recovered patients have immune-boosting antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in their plasma, which can be given to patients currently fighting the virus. Convalescent plasma therapy is the only currently available investigational antibody-based treatment for COVID-19, the company notes.

As shelter-in-place requirements are relaxed across the country, with elective surgeries now being rescheduled, the weekly demand for blood components has increased by 25% compared to early April.  Every blood donation can save up to three lives.