Third Plasma Donation Drive from Shincheonji Church Expected to Gather 4,000 Donors

    DAEGU, KOREA, November 09, 2020 /24-7PressRelease/ -- South Korean religious group Shincheonji Church of Jesus has announced their third convalescent plasma donation drive to take place for 3 weeks starting November 16th at an Indoor Athletics Center in Daegu. Approximately 4,000 members of the group are expected to participate.

This comes after two previous donation drives that took place in July and September. Out of 2,030 total donors in the two drives, 1,700 were Shincheonji members, some of whom donated twice. Similar to the previous two donation drives, the participants plan to decline receiving travel and time compensation to save taxpayer money.

Several Korean governmental organizations are recognizing the action taken by Shincheonji to help in developing a cure for COVID-19. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) who requested the third donation drive stated, "It is necessary to quickly develop plasma treatment through group plasma donations in the current absence of an effective treatment in the midst of the continuous occurrence of COVID-19 at home and abroad." On November 3rd, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters' Deputy Director Kwon Joon-wook stated, "For the purpose of developing plasma treatment, about 4,000 Shincheonji members plan to participate in plasma donation for three weeks, starting on the 16th. We are grateful for the active participation of Shincheonji, and for the cooperation of the City of Daegu and the Korean Red Cross."

Shincheonji's goal is to give hope during the pandemic and help develop a cure or vaccine. Founder of Shincheonji Church Lee Man Hee stated, "As Jesus sacrificed himself with his blood for life, we hope that the blood of people can bring positive effects on overcoming the current situation."

Convalescent plasma from the first two drives has treated 47 patients at 8 medical institutions so far.

A Shincheonji plasma donor stated, "Through our experience of participating in the plasma donation, all the members of our congregation have realized that the power to overcome COVID-19 is tolerance, love and unity. We will put in our utmost effort so that South Korea can overcome COVID-19 through plasma treatment."

The convalescent plasma drive of 4,000 donations is one of the largest in the world to-date.

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