TV host Andy Cohen informed in a recent episode of 'Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen' that he was to donate his plasma to help fight against COVID-19 due to his sexual orientation.

Andy Cohen announced on March 20 that he had tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The TV host has been upset with an FDA policy that prevents men from donating blood plasma if they've had sex with another man in the past three months. Cohen reportedly said, I've known in the past about the fact that gay men cannot donate blood. But I think we're in an unusual situation right now. We're in a war against a disease that we don't know a lot about, and there's an urgent need for the antibody that is in people like me who have survived coronavirus. Cohen has apparently been upset that he was unable to donate blood plasma as Covid-19 survivors may have antibodies which could help fight the virus.

I think that the rules should be looked at, again, by the FDA. There have been great strides in testing for HIV since these rules were enacted. You can get an HIV test in 20 minutes. They, I know, screen the blood again, a second time after you donate it to make sure there's not HIV in the blood. So, I just think this needs another examination. We're in an unusual moment in time right now; there is a war going on. We're all being asked to adapt in so many ways to new things in life, and we're doing it for the greater good as a community. I think there is something that the FDA should take a look at and say, 'How can we move forward?' This is an FDA thing, by the way; it's not a Red Cross thing, it's not the hospital that I applied to give my blood to. It all comes to the FDA, he further added.

In response to the issue, the FDA has reportedly stated, The FDA remains committed to gathering the scientific data that support donor deferral policies that are non-exclusive while helping to ensure a high level of blood safety. For example, the FDA is committed to considering alternatives to the time-based deferral for men who have sex with men by generating the scientific evidence that will support an effective individual risk assessment-based blood donor questionnaire. In this regard, to investigate the scientific validity of such an approach, the FDA is working to commence a pilot study that will enroll about 2000 men who have sex with men and who would be willing to donate blood. This study, being conducted at community health centers in key locations across the United States, could generate data that will help the FDA determine if a donor questionnaire based on individual risk assessment would be as effective as time-based deferrals in reducing the risk of HIV.