I don't see how that's going to be meaningfully useful in a pandemic. We don't have anywhere near the infrastructure required to harvest plasma on that scale. It's possible it might be a useful treatment once we get back down to a stable baseline but before a vaccine is available.
I just don't see how the number of lives this will save is going to be significant vs. other more obvious mitigation strategies.
There's a deep temptation among the technical set here to look for magic bullets. There isn't one. Stay home.
Of course stay home. No one's saying we found the cure. We still want to know what can help patients who get sick anyways (given what's happening in the US now, stupid people make stupid choices but doesn't mean they shouldn't be treated).
Of course I flagged that IVIG could be the worst thing we can try to scale up. Doesn't mean we shouldn't find out if it works or not.
I think you'd be surprised at the infrastructure that out there for plasma collection. I was doing due diligence on one of these companies a few years back and was surprised to learn that the pharmaceutical company owns thousands of plasma collection clinics. The IV Ig market is quite large.
That said, you're right, this could never be used with every infected patient, but companies could probably produce enough for the sickest patients.
I just don't see how the number of lives this will save is going to be significant vs. other more obvious mitigation strategies.
There's a deep temptation among the technical set here to look for magic bullets. There isn't one. Stay home.