SUDBURY -- Help is being provided to those eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and need a ride to get to their appointment.
Sudbury's Lockerby Taxi is working with Public Health Sudbury & Districts to offer free rides to those in need looking to get their shot at Carmichael Arena in the Minnow Lake area of the city.
Irvin Armitage, of Lockerby Taxi, said the offer extends only to people who live in the former City of Sudbury.
"(If) they need a ride to get to the vaccine and they don't have one, we'll be able to provide them a ride free of charge, there and back," Armitage said.
The company is working with the health unit to arrange the rides. Armitage said after 40 years in businesses, it's a way for the company to give back to its community.
"We thought it would be a good initiative to (help) everybody to get their vaccine, and that way we could try to get back to normal here and get things going back to the way they were," he said.
Right now it's only seniors who are eligible, but Lockerby said it plans to keep going as long as it can -- at least until the vaccine rollout evolves.
Dorothy Thomson is a retired public health nurse who is legally blind. She was one of the first seniors to take advantage of Lockerby's offer.
"Well I wasn't surprised, because Lockerby Taxi is such a good community organization that I felt it seems they just might do that," Thomson said.
Cab driver Sophia Lucier said it feels good to help people who need it.
"(It) just adds to that extra relief, you know, that finally, this is a good thing," Lucier said.
It's no small feat either. Under municipally mandated fares, it costs roughly $30 to drive from the South End to Carmichael one way.
Lockerby said it's happy to help the community - one jab at a time.
