Markham Vaccinates Thanks You for Getting your COVID-19 Vaccination

Thank You for Getting Your Vaccination

On October 8, 2021, Markham & Stouffville Vaccinates officially wrapped up our operations. For seven months, our volunteers have helped over 6,000 residents in Markham and Stouffville get their vaccination appointments.

Our success is our community’s success. We are eternally grateful to our community partners and our volunteers, who tirelessly put in their time to help their community. We also want to thank all residents of Markham & Stouffville - your enthusiasm to get the vaccine to protect your family and your community is heartwarming.

We look forward to being with you all again - Healthy, and ready to make our communities more vibrant than ever.

Thank you.

Ray Lai and Rev. Nicola Skinner

Co-organizers, Markham & Stouffville Vaccinates

FAQs

What was Markham & Stouffville Vaccinates?

Founded in March 2021 by Ray Lai and Rev. Nicola Skinner, Markham and Stouffville Vaccinates is a volunteer community initiative with the aim to book seniors for COVID-19 vaccination appointments.

Why did you do this?

As vaccinations drew near, we realized that the rollout was going to be a confusing one, and one that seniors will have considerable difficulty navigating. Ray and Rev. Nicola agreed that help was necessary, and started this initiative with the aim to get as many appointments as possible for seniors in Markham and Stouffville.

What type of help did you offer to seniors?

We helped seniors book their appointments online using the same tools that are publicly available, we just did it faster and smarter with in-house developed monitoring tools.

We also called every senior to inform them of their appointments, and drove those who did not have the means to get to a mass vaccination centre.

What type of… “tools” are you referring to?

We leveraged in-house developed software tools coded with Python to help us identify open appointments, and booked seniors to those appointments!

Our software did not automatically book appointments, it only notified us of an opening. Each appointment was booked by a human volunteer.

Did anyone get compensated?

No one was paid any compensation for this initiative. We received donations of time from all of our volunteers, and some graciously donated gift cards to local restaurants. Those gift cards went to purchasing lunches for volunteer drivers who were driving sometimes multiple seniors every day.

I’d like to learn more!

Sure! Contact Ray at ray@raylai.ca. We’ll talk.

 

Markham Vaccinates in the Press

Markham Vaccinates on Metro Morning with Ismaila Alfa

Markham Vaccinates on Toronto Star’s This Matters Podcast with Ismaila Alfa Saba Eitizaz