Vaccine Hunters Canada halt social media posts, pivot to self-serve tools

Vaccine Hunters Canada, the volunteer-run organization which has helped thousands of Canadians find COVID-19 vaccines, will stop posting on their social media pages on Tuesday and pivot towards self-serve tools.

The team of over 100 volunteers shared hundreds of updates daily on their multiple social media channels including Twitter and Discord for almost six months, helping Canadians find details about clinic locations, times and eligibility.

They amassed hundreds of thousands of followers including over 250,000 on Twitter.

With vaccines more widely available across the country, the website launched by the team will now have automated operations and consolidated services in their free multilingual tools “Find Your Immunization” and “Vaccine DIY.”

As of August 31, over 51 million vaccines have been administered in Canada and over 76 per cent of eligible residents are fully vaccinated.

In one of their final tweets, @VaxHuntersCanada paid tribute to the volunteers who helped run their social media with a video, saying, “Since March, they’ve posted thousands of updates, responded to thousands of questions, and helped save thousands of lives.”

Our final tweet: a tribute to our volunteers. Since March, they've posted thousands of updates, responded to thousands of questions, and helped save thousands of lives. It’s been our honour. (Sound on!)#VaxToTheMax #COVID19CA #vhcCAhttps://t.co/rZlwfWKk1G

— Vaccine Hunters Canada (@VaxHuntersCan) August 31, 2021

Vaccine Hunters also partnered with the City of Toronto early in their vaccination campaign to help residents find appointments at city-run clinics.

The volunteers have received an immense amount of praise for their role in helping Canadians navigate an oftentimes confusing COVID-19 vaccine rollout, especially in Ontario.