中英对照：义工们帮助约克区老人预约打疫苗和接送

 

 

安省的老人终于可以打新冠疫苗了。省政府的打疫苗系统于3月15日开始接受80岁以上老人的预约。不知为什么，约克区政府于2月26日宣布，约克区的疫苗预约系统将比省政府的系统早开两周，在3月1日就已开始运作。

 

The Covid-19 vaccines are finally here and really for injections, starting with the seniors. The launch of the provincial booking system was set for March 15 and those 80 years old and up are starting to be vaccinated. Somehow, York Region announced on Feb. 26 that their vaccination booking system will go ahead of Ontario's booking system by two weeks and will start on March 1.

 

这些都是好消息。问题是，许多老年人不会上网预约，他们只好在寒冷的天气里排队打疫苗。在约克区，老人开始打疫苗的宣传工作遇到了麻烦，这些老人打疫苗并不像政客们所想象的那样简单。

 

That is the good news. The bad news is that seniors had a hard time navigating the online registration and then faced long lineups in cold temperatures. In the York Region, these are the difficulties experienced during the rollout campaign, proving that it is not exactly smooth as the politicians want us to believe.

 

随后，约克区的公共卫生部门对区里医院里的网上预约系统进行了调整，以提高效率。区政府有几个月的时间为预约做准备，并且应该考虑老人如何预约。结果是，他们似乎没有考虑那些独居或无法上网的老年人，惹了许多麻烦。

 

York Region’s public health unit adapted an existing online booking system at hospital clinics for vaccinations to optimize existing supplies. They have months to prepare for this and should have evaluated how people are booking appointments. Instead, it would appear that no considerations were made to accommodate seniors who live alone or do not have access to the internet or laptops. The result is utter chaos.

分享不同信息/观点，做明智判断/决策！请点击096.ca！

预约打疫苗不是你我想象的那么简单。你要把打疫苗的人通过预约送到打不同的疫苗和在不同的医院打。在很多情况下，由于名额订满，有些老年人必须去另一个地方而不是附近的诊所打疫苗。刚开始的时候，预约会被改期，因为老年人需要在抵达时填表注册，并且陪同他们的人要填写跟踪表。刚开打时，由于没有考虑到安排打疫苗前要做新冠排查的空间，因此老年人不得不呆在室外排队，并且没有做到人与人距离保持两米。在媒体开始报道这些完全可以事先避免的问题，市民为此强烈抗议后，情况得到了改善。

 

The booking process is tricky. Users are directed to different links at different hospitals that are administering vaccines. In many cases, seniors have to go to a different location instead of a clinic in the senior’s town as the spots are all booked. Earlier on, some appointments had been delayed as seniors needed to be registered upon arrival, and caregivers and family who arrived with them also had to fill out visitor tracking forms. Initially, space was not set aside indoors for COVID screening so seniors were waiting outside of clinics and hospitals in the cold and without control to maintain the two-metre social distancing protocol. Later on, this condition improved after outcries from citizens when the media started to report these deplorable conditions.

 

我的一位朋友，Shanta Sundarason在社区里发起了一项活动，以帮助老年人顺利，有效地打疫苗。Shanta是约克区的一个非谋利项目“ PinkCars”的创始人。该项目为80岁以上及打新冠疫苗的老年人提供上网预约和免费接送服务。

 

One of my friends who has been involved in community services started a campaign to help the seniors to get their vaccinations done in a smooth and effective manner – her name is Shanta Sundarason. Shanta became the founder of “PinkCars”, a non-profit initiative in York Region, which provides on-line booking services and free car rides to seniors 80 years and up to their COVID-19 vaccination appointments.

 

这一切始于Shanta接到了许多不懂电脑的居民来电。这些人不知道约克区的网上预约如何操作，想知道是否可以电话预约（约克区没有电话预约）。看到这些居民的痛苦，压力和沮丧，Shanta决定设法来帮助他们。

 

It all began when Shanta received calls from residents who were not computer literate and were worried about how they would use York Region's website portal to book their appointments. Some callers said they didn't have a computer, and wonder if they can call in to make appointments (the answer is “No”). She was feeling their pain, stress and frustration, and decided to do something to help them.

分享不同信息/观点，做明智判断/决策！请点击096.ca！

Shanta在网上购买了一个域名，让一个朋友建立了一个网站，并在48小时内让网站开始运营。没有多少电脑知识的老年人可以访问pinkcars.ca，并在网上填表。义工使用这些信息帮他们到约克区网站预约。那些根本不会或没有电脑的人可以致电905-479-8880，由义工帮他们预约。

 

Shanta bought a domain name on the Internet, had a friend set up a website, and within 48 hours she got the operation up and running. Seniors with limited computer skills can go to pinkcars.ca and fill out a simple online form with their information and the group's volunteers will use that information to go to the York Region website to book vaccination appointments for each of them. Those who can't use computers at all can call 905-479-8880 and talk to a volunteer to get the task accomplished.

 

通过自己的人脉，Shanta发现许多人愿意帮助和宣传这一服务。随后，有50多名义工参与了这一项目。许多人愿意提供老人打疫苗的接送服务。有人曾要求将服务扩展到多伦多地区，但由于要提供整个约克区的服务已经让他们忙不过来，因此不得不放弃。

 

Using her connections, Shanta found others willing to help and spread the word. Before long, she had over 50 volunteers from across the region. Many offered to pick up seniors and take them to the vaccination clinics. There were requests to have the operation expanded into Toronto area but they have to be declined as it is already too big a job to cover the entire York Region.

 

自该项目启动以来，他们已经帮助了500多名老年人打上疫苗。有3位义工从事预约，每天工作16小时。由于增加了打疫苗的人数和疫苗供应的加大，到目前为止，他们安排的预约没有一个被取消。他们会监控是否有人会因各种原因取消打针预约，并每十分钟刷新电脑，确保与政府的预约服务器保持同步。由于这个措施，他们预约的等候不超过一天。

 

Since the service started, the group has helped more than 500 seniors. There are 3 volunteers doing the appointment booking and working 16-hour days. So far they have not failed in obtaining appointments because new time slots open as a result of cancellations and additional vaccine supplies. They monitor for cancellation and refresh their computer connections to the booking program every ten minutes. Due to this effort, their waitlist doesn't last longer than a day.

 

使用这项服务的反馈令人振奋，Shanta和她的义工们非常高兴。Shanta认为本该不需要建立像PinkCars这样的社区团体来提供打疫苗的服务，地区和市政工作人员完全可以，并且应该从事这项工作，而不是靠不拿工资的义工，尤其是预约问题。

 

The feedback from people who have used the service has been glowing and Shanta and her volunteers are elated. Shanta feels strongly that creating a community group like PinkCars should not have been necessary. She feels that regional and municipal staff could and should be doing this work instead of unpaid volunteers, particularly the assistance in booking.

 

“Pinkcars”服务可能会延续到下个月，直到70岁以下的老年人开始打疫苗为止。因为这批人更有可能使用电脑自己预约和自己前去打针。也许受到“pinkcars”服务的启发和其所带来的尴尬，约克区现在开始为80岁以上的老年人提供电话服务，并希望在区内的六个诊所给他们打针。

 

The “pinkcars” service will likely continue for the next month until seniors under the age of 70 begin to receive vaccines, as they are more likely to be capable of using the computer to book their own appointments and to get to the clinics on their own. Perhaps inspired and shamed by her services, York Region is now offering telephone assistance to seniors aged 80 and over wishing to book their vaccination appointments at one of six clinics across the region.

分享不同信息/观点，做明智判断/决策！请点击096.ca！

 

这场解决预约打疫苗的问题显示了人与人之间的友善。Shanta带了一个好头！此事说明，只要我们全心全意地去替他人着想，我们就能为许多人造福。

 

This vaccination booking disaster has really brought out the goodness and kindness in people. Shanta sets an example of how much we can accomplish for the good of many if only we put our minds and heart into actions.