BANGKOK – As Thailand struggles with its worst coronavirus outbreak yet, researchers in the country have developed a machine to draw out coronavirus disease 2019 vaccine doses more efficiently and optimize lower-than-expected supplies.
Using a robotic arm, the “AutoVacc” system can draw 12 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in four minutes from a vial, according to researchers at Chulalongkorn University.
That is up 20 percent from the standard 10 doses drawn manually. The machine only works on AstraZeneca multi-dose vials currently.
The research team said they should be able to produce 20 more AutoVacc units within three or four months, but government funds and support are needed to expand across the country.
The prototype machine costs 2.5 million baht ($76,243). The researchers also plan to make similar machines to use with the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.(Reuters)
