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The use of custom 3D printed face shields to cover gaps on the sides of masks will be tested in one of six coronavirus-related clinical trials to secure funding from the Australian government.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Sunday the government was providing $ 10 million from its Medical Research Future Fund for six trials, including two “next-generation” vaccines developed by researchers at the University of Melbourne.
The 3D printing trial, supervised by Associate Professor Anand Ganesan of Flinders University, has secured $ 973,119 in funding. He will focus on the development of facial protection to better protect healthcare workers against Covid-19.
“Mask leaks with existing P2 / N95 respirators are a major problem for healthcare workers,” Hunt said. “The main reason for face mask leakage is individual variability in the shape of the human face.”
The minister said the trial would test the effectiveness and feasibility of using custom 3D printed face shields in conjunction with P2 / N95 respirators.
“This is personalized, rapidly scalable technology that could be quickly and easily used around the world,” he said.
Turning to other trials to gain funding, Hunt said the researchers would also “test the effectiveness of an inexpensive and quickly applicable germicidal ultraviolet air germicidal treatment strategy, used in conjunction with the control of existing infections, as a means of reducing rates of respiratory viral infection in residential care facilities for the elderly ”.
The federal government has come under pressure due to inadequate measures to protect elderly residents in care from Covid-19 outbreaks. So far, 685 deaths have been recorded among people living in Australian government-subsidized elderly care facilities – 655 of them in Victoria.
Hunt said volunteers between the ages of 18 and 75 would be recruited by mid-2021 for an accelerated clinical trial of two new Covid-19 vaccines being overseen by researchers at the University of Melbourne.
He said that these ‘next generation’ vaccines offered ‘a number of potential benefits to’ first generation ‘Covid-19 vaccines and did not require storage at the extremely low temperatures necessary for the Pfizer vaccine.’
“Following the encouraging results of preclinical testing, government support is accelerating the process of shifting research efforts from the laboratory to human trials.
The new funding was announced at a time when tightening state border restrictions to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the community has triggered calls for Australian authorities to speed up the rollout of existing vaccines.
The federal government is sticking to March as the start date for the deployment to Australia, with Scott Morrison saying last Friday that “public health is our number one priority on the vaccine” and “there will be no shortcuts”.
The prime minister argued that approval standards had to be met to ensure public confidence in the vaccine – which was crucial to ensure adoption as high as possible.
In December, Labor leader Anthony Albanese called for a faster and wider deployment of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine in Australia, saying that if approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration in January, the jabs would have to start anyway. emergency.
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