Rep. Thomas Massie tested COVID-negative last week but wants to donate his plasma to help coronavirus patients recover from their sicknesses after taking an antibody test and discovering he previously had the sickness.
The Kentucky Republican, 49, told the Washington Examiner he suspects he first contracted the virus back in early January. However, he does not know where he may have gotten it from at the time.
“I was sick for four days with a fever and a sore throat and very little energy. I had super low energy. I went to the doctor on Jan. 7, and I told him I had to get back to work, so they gave me an anti-histamine and shot of Rocephin, and I felt better the next day,” Massie said. “Now, I don’t know if the medicine did it or if I was already on the path to recovery, because on Jan. 7, I drove myself to the doctor, if I wasn’t totally laid out.”
Three months later, the COVID-19 pandemic became more well known to the country, and the first members of Congress tested positive for the disease, including Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, a Florida Republican, and Rep. Ben McAdams, a Democrat from Utah.
More recently, Rep. Louie Gohmert, a Texas Republican, and Raul Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat, contracted the virus. Massie believes his suspected January bout with the illness has protected him.
“I would imagine the antibodies probably conferred some immunity to me for the past several months that I didn’t know about,” said Massie, an engineer trained at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who is among a small group of members of Congress with a scientific background.
“I would have gotten an antibody test sooner, but the media described this as a lung condition. And it wasn’t until I heard reports from most of the people that it actually manifested itself as a fever and sore throat and lack of energy and didn’t go to their lungs,” said Massie, the holder of numerous patents. “Once they got more reports that have symptoms that lined up with the symptoms that I had in January, that compelled me to go to get the antibody test.”
Massie was administered two COVID-19 tests. On July 29, his blood was drawn, and on the following Friday, he was tested for the disease through a nasal swab procedure. He received the results last Friday evening showing that he was COVID-negative.
However, Massie’s physician contacted him on Wednesday and informed him he tested positive for having coronavirus antibodies. Massie says he took the antibody test developed by Mount Sinai, which determines the presence of anti-COVID-19 antibodies in one’s blood.
Massie’s coronavirus antibody level was three times (1:960) the recommended threshold by the Food and Drug Administration for determining if convalescent plasma should be used in a patient, meaning the Kentucky congressman has more than enough COVID-19 antibodies to donate his plasma.
Other members of Congress who have contracted the virus in the past few months have donated convalescent plasma as well, including Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Mike Kelly, McAdams, South Carolina Democrat Rep. Joe Cunningham, and Diaz-Balart.
