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Huge Ma, the founder of TurboVax — a free website that helped hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers get vaccination appointments — announced that he is running for Queens Assembly District 37.
Ma, 31, announced his candidacy on Sunday to represent his home neighborhood of Astoria as well as Queensbridge, Dutch Kills, Long Island City, Sunnyside, Woodside, Ridgewood, and Maspeth.
The self-described “technology activist” is best known for creating TurboVax, after he took it upon himself in January to create a website to facilitate the process to get New Yorkers who were unable to make an online vaccination appointment into a doctor’s office for their shots.
After frantically and unsuccessfully trying to find an appointment for his mother via the “broken system,” he decided he had to do something.
A former software engineer for Airbnb, Ma built the free website in just two weeks for $50. The site compiled available vaccine appointments from New York City and State’s vaccine systems and sent real-time appointment slots to Ma’s @TurboVax Twitter account. It’s estimated that he’s helped possibly hundreds of thousands get their vaccinations.
“When the Mayor and Governor could not come together to deliver a single website to find a vaccine, Ma used his technology background to deliver a platform that helped hundreds of thousands of teachers, grocery store workers, and other regular New Yorkers get the vaccine,” his campaign said in a press release.
“I only did what I thought was right and what was good for my neighbors,” Ma told City and State. “I think that this is an extension of that.”
“Very seldom do people have an opportunity to advocate for their neighbors, to improve their lives,” he said. “I am running to do justice to [my mom’s] sacrifice.”
In addition to helping thousands get their vaccines, he used his platform to address other issues such as anti-Asian hate. He temporarily suspended the TurboVax Twitter account to raise $200,000 for Welcome to Chinatown, a nonprofit COVID-19 relief organization for the neighborhood’s businesses.
Ma said he is “fighting for true climate action, housing abundance, transit-first streets, good government tech, Healthcare for All, and Free CUNY.”
“I took action when the needs of my neighbors weren’t being addressed,” he wrote on his campaign website.
“I’m taking action now because we need a representative who will address our needs in District 37.”
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