For the past two weeks, Shanta Sundarason and an army of 50 volunteers have been making sure local seniors can book and get to their COVID-19 vaccination appointments.
The free vaccination booking and ride service, called PinkCars, was started by Sundarason within 48 hours of York Region's announcement on Feb. 26 that residents over the age of 80 would be eligible to be vaccinated beginning on March 1, two weeks ahead of the province's launch of its vaccination booking system.
The catch was that the limited number of appointments offered at three clinics, including the one at Newmarket's Ray Twinney Recreation Complex, had to be booked online, and seniors requiring assistance were advised to seek the assistance of a caregiver, family member or friend.
Sundarason, a longtime community volunteer, began receiving calls from residents who were not computer literate and were worried about how they would use York Region's website portal to book their appointments.
According to Sundarason, the situation was "a shambles" — something needed to be done.
"Some of them said, 'I only have an iPad, can I do it on my iPad?' Some said they didn't have a computer, and could they call in to make appointments? I was just feeling their pain, stress and frustration, and decided I needed to do something," said Sundarason.
"So I bought a domain name, had a friend set up a website, and within 48 hours we were up and running and ready to help when the rollout launched on the following Monday."
The service helps seniors who need assistance booking an appointment or who don't have anyone who can help them get to their appointment and aren't comfortable using a taxi.
Seniors with some computer skills can go to pinkcars.ca and fill out a simple online form with their information, which the group's volunteers will use to go to the York Region website to book vaccination appointments for each of them. Those who can't use computers at all can call 905-479-8880 to get help.
Sundarason used her volunteer connections to find others willing to help and spread the word. Before long, she had 50 volunteers from across the region. Many offered to pick up seniors and take them to the vaccination clinics.
"We have been asked to move into Toronto, as well, but we just can't do it because York Region is already too huge. But we are covering the entire York Region. We have drivers in Newmarket, Georgina, Richmond Hills, Markham, we have volunteers everywhere," she said.
"It's been amazing. This disaster has really brought out the goodness and kindness in people. Some people want to give back and want to feel useful but don't know how. So it takes a crazy like me to start something, and people join in."
Since the service started, the group has helped more than 500 seniors. Three volunteers have been doing the appointment booking and working 16-hour days, said Sundarason, but so far they have had a 100 per cent success rate in obtaining appointments because new time slots open as a result of cancellations and additional vaccine supplies.
"We are sitting on that refresh button every 10 minutes, and a cancellation will come up. Our waitlist doesn't last longer than a day ... it's just sheer determination," she said.
The feedback from people who have used the service has been glowing.
"Thank you so much to PinkCars for organizing my mother's appointment. Everything was so well organized, and we are so grateful for this service," said Janice Hartman. "We had tried booking appointments for my mother for days and couldn't find anything. As soon as PinkCars got involved, we were able to get my mother an appointment within two days. This service is amazing!"
Although Sundarason said they are happy to be of service, she feels strongly that creating a community group like PinkCars should not have been necessary. She feels that regional and municipal staff could and should be doing this work instead of unpaid volunteers, particularly the assistance in booking.
The service will likely continue for the next month until seniors under the age of 70 begin to receive vaccines, as they are more likely to be capable of using the computer to book their own appointments and to get to the clinics on their own, she said.
York Region is now offering telephone assistance to seniors aged 80 and over wishing to book their vaccination appointments at one of six clinics across the region.
