Vaccine Hunters Canada to wind down operations by Aug. 31 – National

Vaccine Hunters Canada will wind down its operations this month as it plans to pivot to automated services, the volunteer-run organization said Thursday.

In a news release, the popular vaccine appointment finding tool said it will consolidate its offerings into its “free multilingual self-serve tool” called Find Your Immunization (FYI) and on appointments.vaccinehunters.ca and vaccinehunters.ca.

The volunteer organization will complete its transition on Aug. 31.

“We are leveraging the power of FYI to automate many of the functions that were done by our amazing team who are all volunteers. We will continue to support Canadians with the best possible tools and resources,” said Andrew Young, the founder and director of the group, in the release.

“Ever since I started Vaccine Hunters Canada, we’ve been listening, learning, watching, and understanding the needs of the country. Our team developed FYI in order to simplify the vaccine booking process. It is our way of saying thank you and to make sure Canadians are well taken care of.”

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FYI was launched on June 18 and helps users find a shot by processing just a postal code. The Vaccine Hunters Canada website will include self-serve resources for pharmacists, clinic organizers and the public.

Vaccine Hunters Canada began in March with an objective to help find vaccines for Canadians. The platform grew on social media, and had accounts on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Discord.

“The transition to automated operations and consolidated services will mean that its volunteer-staffed channels will be inactive,” the group said.

Vaccine Hunters Canada grew in popularity to the point where the City of Toronto partnered with the team to help get shots into arms.

To date, Canada has a 68 per cent full vaccination rate, and 81 per cent of eligible Canadians have at least one dose.

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