Coronavirus Update New York City: Creator of vaccine appointment site TurboVax honored

Coronavirus update for NYC

ByEyewitness News WABC logo
Wednesday, April 7, 2021
Creator of TurboVax honored for helping tens of thousands of New Yorkers get vaccines
Creator of TurboVax honored for helping tens of thousands of New Yorkers get vaccinesIf you or someone you know was able to score a vaccine appointment through TurboVax, you have Huge Ma to thank.

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- The founder of the vaccine appointment website TurboVax was praised Tuesday for making the COVID-19 vaccine rollout easier for New Yorkers.

NYC mayoral candidate Andrew Yang and Congressman Ritchie Torres honored TurboVax founder Huge Ma.

Ma, an engineer, created a simple, free and easy-to-use website that identifies and allows people to sign up for vaccine appointments in real time.

His site has made the vaccine rollout easier for thousands of New Yorkers.

"I never planned to get involved or get mixed up in all this, I have always just been following my gut," Ma said. "When I built TurboVax, I just wanted to make the vaccine process simpler, that's it. I never expected that it would help tens of thousands, probably hundreds of thousands, get their vaccines by now."

Torres said he has helped to save lives.

"At a cost of only $50, in less than two weeks, Huge managed to do what the federal government and what the local and city government failed to do with much greater resources," Torres said.

Ma is also using his growing platform to raise money to combat anti-Asian violence in the city.

RELATED | LIST: No vaccine appointment necessary for some New Yorkers at these 25 locations

Josh Einiger has more on the increasing vaccination efforts in New York.
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