Plasma is the pale liquid that remains after red and white cells are removed from blood. Pixabay
"Today's action will dramatically increase access to this treatment," the President said, adding that he has directed the FDA to approve the EUA for convalescent plasma therapy.
According to media reports last week, the FDA had put on hold the emergency use authorisation for blood plasma to treat Covid-19.
In a report, The New York Times said the FDA approval for plasma therapy was on hold and "more data is under review and the approval could still be issued in the near future, according to H. Clifford Lane, the clinical director at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases".
Top health officials including Anthony Fauci, the country's top infectious disease expert, have cautioned that available data wasn't strong enough to support emergency approval.
Plasma is the pale liquid that remains after red and white cells are removed from blood.
The convalescent plasma therapy has gained much traction in several countries including India, where several lives have been saved with the therapy.
Trump later accused some health officials of playing politics regarding an emergency use authorisation for convalescent plasma.
When asked about the FDA not having granted an EUA, Trump said the "reason was political", the CNN report said.
US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, however, said studies involving 70,000 volunteers justified the move.
"The data we gathered suggests that patients who were treated early in their disease course, within three days of being diagnosed, with plasma containing high levels of antibodies, benefited the most from treatment.
