Today (June 22nd), Bruce Power and a coalition of organizations announce their support for ‘Jab and Java’ – a campaign aimed at helping overcome vaccine hesitancy in hot spot locations by offering free coffee as a small incentive.
Fleets Coffee, a Toronto-based mobile coffee and technology company, partnered with Michael Garron Hospital, to use its fleet of trucks for pop-up vaccination clinics in East Toronto hot spots.
“When the pandemic forced us to suspend most of our operations, I knew we could redirect our unused trucks to bring vaccines directly to businesses and hot spot neighbourhoods,” said Kirk Tobias, Co-Founder and CEO of Fleets Coffee. “Through the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and its Vaccination Support Council we were connected with Michael Garron Hospital and we now do between one to four pop-ups a week. Every single needle we help get into an arm puts us one step closer to the end of the pandemic.”
“The ‘Jab and Java’ campaign takes this concept one step further, by offering free coffee as an incentive for people getting a vaccine,” Tobias continued. “As a new start-up impacted by the pandemic, we are fortunate to have the support of Bruce Power and the partner organizations to help to deliver this unique program.”
In early May, Bruce Power brought together a coalition of businesses, unions and organizations who provided support in vaccination efforts across Ontario. These partners also helped to establish one of Ontario’s largest vaccination centres at the CAA Centre in Brampton, using the Hockey Hub vaccination model. These partners include:
Rocco Rossi, President and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, is proud of the collaboration between Ontario’s businesses to help in the vaccination effort.
“The sooner we are all immunized, the sooner we can get back to normal. Ontario’s business community and Ontario Chamber Network have truly rallied together to support in the momentous vaccination effort,” said Rossi. “The ingenuity and dedication shown by these organizations is outstanding.”
To learn more about the Ontario Vaccination Support Council, established by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and co-chaired by Bruce Power and Facebook Canada, click here.
Ontario Vaccination Support Council Members also launched This is Our Shot to be #TogetherAgain, an initiative to promote vaccine confidence among Canadians and, especially, to encourage vaccine education and acceptance among some of the communities that have unique concerns and higher hesitancy. Important information from medical and public health experts about COVID-19 and vaccination can be found at www.thisisourshot.ca.
