Randomization amid a pandemic – a critical appraisal regarding convalescent plasma therapy clinical trials for COVID‐19 patients

Abstract The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is spreading rapidly, a pandemic that has already affected millions of people across the world Currently there are no vaccines or drugs approved for COVID-19 Initial data which are coming from large clinical trials using Hydroxychloroquine, Lopinavir/Ritonavir, Remdesevir, and Favipiravir are not satisfactory against COVID-19 till now and we are in the midst of a worldwide public health threat In this context human convalescent plasma is considered as an option for treatment of COVID-19 disease Convalescent plasma therapy is a classic adaptive immunotherapy which involves the administration of antibodies against COVID-19 to a COVID-19 patient for the purpose of treating the viral disease Over the last two decades, convalescent plasma therapy was used for the treatment of 2003 SARS-CoV-1 epidemic, 2009-2010 H1N1 influenza virus pandemic, the 2012 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)-CoV epidemic and 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic