Scientists are now using Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson‘s blood after recovering from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) to develop a vaccine for the fatal disease.
While filming in Australia in early March, the couple tested positive and were immediately placed in quarantine as they recovered. After returning to the United States at the end of the month, the couple continued practicing social distancing.
On NPR’s podcast, ‘Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!,’ Hanks stated that he and Wilson have since volunteered to donate their blood and plasma for coronavirus research. He says, “A lot of the questions [are] what do we do now? Is there something we can do? And, in fact, we just found out that we do carry the antibodies. We have not only been approached, we have said, ‘Do you want our blood? Can we give plasma?’”
Additionally, the actor mentioned he already had a name thought out should scientists perfect the medicine. He adds, “In fact, we will be giving it now to the places that hope to work on what I would like to call the ‘Hank-ccine.”
Furthermore, on he and his wife’s current status, he shares that they’re felling “just fine and dandy.” He says, “Rita went through a tougher time than I did. She had a much higher fever. She had lost her sense of taste and sense of smell. She got absolutely no joy from food for a better part of three weeks.”
