SUDBURY -- Lockerby Taxi in Sudbury, which has been offering free rides to and from vaccination clinics since mid-March, is now able to expand its program to people living outside of the old City of Sudbury thanks to new funding.
The Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce, with a donation of $10,000 from Desjardins and in partnership with Lockerby Taxi, have launched Project GoVax.
Originally, the program was only available to those who live in the former City of Sudbury.
“So far just off of Lockerby funding we did about 500 trips to and from just in the City of Sudbury which is a substantial amount of money when you think about that a fare from new Sudbury to the south end is $40 and vice versa," said Irvin Armitage of Lockerby Taxi.
"So this funding will hopefully allow us to go for a few months and we’ll go from there and see once we get closer to seeing how the funding goes.”
Debbi Nicholson, president & CEO of the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce, said it's all about removing barriers and getting more people vaccinated.
“We want to do our part to help our community get vaccinated and this program aims to remove some of the barriers members of our community may face in getting to their vaccine appointments,” Nicholson said.
“The Ontario Chamber’s Ontario Vaccine Support Council was crucial in helping arrange this partnership and we are thrilled to be a part of such an opportunity to help our community.”
Lockerby Taxi will provide a free ride to and from vaccine appointments to any Greater Sudbury resident in need. The service is available to anyone in the region who has booked an appointment at a vaccination centre in Greater Sudbury only.
To book a ride, call Lockerby Taxi at 705-522-2222 and request a ride through Project GoVax. Customers must have their vaccine appointments booked before calling Lockerby, since they can't book appointments on behalf of customers.
