Camosun College develops syringe transportation trays to help B.C.'s vaccine rollout
Vaccines are our best tool in the fight against COVID-19, health officials say, so Camosun College was given an important task from B.C.'s Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) to protect them.
Working together, staff and students at the Greater Victorai college's applied research department, called 'Camosun Innovates,' had to come up with a way of transporting multiple loaded syringes containing COVID-19 vaccines without damaging them or causing their plungers to depress along the way.
"When they are distributed, often what will happen is the syringes will get depressed in transit, and so once that happens, we’re not able to use those syringes," says Dr. Richard Gale, director at Camosun Innovates.
"So we wanted to create something that would keep the syringes stable in transit, but also make it possible for them to be refrigerated if need be."
It took 24 hours to come up with a design and 3 days to manufacture foam trays that will safely transport syringes containing a pre-drawn single dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
The foam trays, made from a chemically-resistant polyethylene closed-cell foam, are manufactured using a commercial-grade laser cutter located in the Babcock Interaction Lab at the college’s Interurban Campus.
The specially-designed foam trays stop the doses from rolling around, or the accidental depression of the plunger while being transported.
"A number of vaccines are being distributed in pre-loaded syringes," says Gale. "What this will do is it will make it possible for single and double doses to go to remote communities when they only need a small amount of vaccines."
"It also makes it possible to then stack these for areas that are here in town," he says. "Perhaps you want to have a vaccine clinic here at a high school; this is a great way to move all of the vaccine syringes all together at the same time."
Each tray holds seven pre-drawn syringes and is designed to fit inside the standard portable cooler used by public health. On average, coolers used can hold up to 10 of the fully loaded trays, for approximately 70 syringes per cooler.
So far, Camosun Innovates has manufactured 200 foam trays at about a cost of $3 each, with more still to come.
The B.C. Centre for Disease Control distributes them to various health authorities as needed.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.