B.C. college researchers design critical transportation and storage device for Pfizer vaccine

A research team at Victoria's Camosun College has come up with a way to safely store and transportvials of the temperature-sensitive Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and theinvention will now play a significant role in the massimmunization plan currently rolling out across B.C..

Camosun Innovatesstaffhave created an acrylic tray that can hold 100 vials of the vaccine in an upright, stable position, along with a handling device that allows health-care workers to move five of the vials from fridge storage to the tray at one time.

An invention that allows quick, effective handling like this is critical for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which must be stored at temperatures between 80 C and 60 C. If the vials are out of the cold for more than a few minutes, they are rendered useless.

A total of 450 of the trays have been made for theB.C. Centre for Disease Control so far.

"The feeling of contributing in not just a small way... was really exciting for us," saidRichard Gale,Camosun Innovates director.

It is not the first contribution the applied research and design centre has made to the fight against COVID-19.Staff have also fabricated face shields and a portable mask sterilization unit for the Island Health Authority.

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Gale said acrylic was chosen for the tray material because it can withstand temperatures as low as150 C without shrinking so much that the vials are damaged.

The trays are laser-cut in the college's lab and their100 placeholders are separated into four quadrants sohealth officials can quickly count how many vials they have on a tray at one time.

The placeholders each have little '"feet" that hold the vials upright and stable.

"Like a small chess board," is how Gale described the look of the trayTuesday during an interview on All Points West.

Researchers worked with pharmacists at Victoria General Hospital to make sure the handling device, which resembles a pair of scissors with a claw-like grabbing mechanism, was efficient and easy to use.

Gale said the trays are meant to be sterilized and reused but the team can promptly churn out more if needs be.

As of March 23,557,508 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in B.C., with 87,168of those being second doses.

LISTEN|Richard Gale talks about Camosun Innovates' contributions to help tacklethe COVID-19 crisis: