The World Health Organization (WHO) late Monday advised against using convalescent plasma to treat COVID-19. “For non-severe COVID-19 patients, WHO recommends against its use, while it should only be used within clinical trials for severe and critical COVID-19 patients,” the WHO announced. Convalescent plasma therapy involves using the blood plasma of patients who recovered from COVID-19 to treat others actively ill with the disease, in an effort to prevent disease progression and help them recover more quickly. It was believed that the antibodies contained in the blood plasma of recovered COVID-19 patients may provide passive immunity for those taken ill with the disease, by neutralizing the SARS-CoV-2 virus. “Despite its initial promise, current evidence shows that [convalescent plasma therapy] does not improve survival nor reduce the need for mechanical ventilation, and it is costly and time-consuming to administer,” the British Medical Journal (BMJ) said in a press release late Monday. Based …