A couple of months ago, there was news that there were a number of AstraZeneca vaccines about to expire. The government was looking to get these vaccines into people's arms fast. As part of the age group eligible for that particular vaccine, I was able to find my second dose thanks to Vaccine Hunters Canada. 

In case you do not know them, according to their website  "Vaccine Hunters Canada (VHC) is a community of volunteers. Our mission is to help Canadians navigate the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, understand the complexities of vaccine eligibility, and connect eligible Canadians with appointment opportunities."

Canada has one of the largest nonprofit sectors in the world per capita. We have world-class hospitals, award-winning disaster-relief charities, outstanding educational centres, and a host of national health organizations with robust infrastructure. And yet, with all that sector expertise and resources, Canada needed Vaccine Hunters to help get the logistics of needles into arms.

With over 80,000 charities in Canada, why did we need to have new groups, like Vaccine Hunters?

To be fair, I certainly understand that, when Vaccine Hunters started in April, 2021, there was still a lot of workplace uncertainty. But let's be clear, by April 2021, we were 13 months into the pandemic. Was there not any existing charity in health, education, technology, disaster-relief, or another area that could have stepped in and stepped up?  With a rich, strong charity sector, why didn't one of the countless organizations in this area start working on this question of access to available vaccine appointments when it became clear it was an issue?

Don't get me wrong, I love Vaccine Hunters Canada, including the fact that they are winding down most of their operations because they feel they have been able to bridge the gap on immunization information linkages.

What I am asking is why did we need them at all?

Vaccine Hunters Canada (VHC) is a community of volunteers. Their mission is to help Canadians navigate the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, understand the complexities of vaccine eligibility, and connect eligible Canadians with appointment opportunities.Their motto is "neighbours helping neighbours, coast to coast". They feel an urgent sense of duty to work together so we can all move beyond this critical moment in the COVID-19 pandemic and begin reopening our communities. Although they obtain information from some Public Health Units, they are not officially linked to any level of government and they are not providing medical advice.

Ann Rosenfield is the editor of Hilborn Charity eNews. She got her second dose of AstraZeneca thanks to Vaccine Hunters Canada and her son also found his through them.

Cover photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash