FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JANUARY 21, 2021 • THE QUEENS COURIER 47
Victoria’s
DIARY
Victoria
SCHNEPSYUNIS
vschneps@gmail.com
tweet me @vschneps
To be or not to be
For weeks, the main topic of
all my conversations with
friends and family has been
the COVID-19 vaccine and to
be or not to be a recipient of the
vaccine.
Th e controversy is which vaccine
will be here and which one
to take. Th e two-shot vaccination
arrived fi rst, but I thought
and talked with friends about
whether I should wait for the
one-shot vaccine.
But, when my daughter
Samantha visited me to help me
unpack she asked, “Mom, should
I try to register you for the vaccine?”
I instinctively said “yes!”
Aft er two hours and many
grunts and groans, Samantha got
me an appointment in one week
in the Bronx, only 20 minutes
away from Bayside.
On the designated day, I made
my way over the Th rogs Neck
Bridge and, a few parkways later,
I arrived at the school where I
was going to get my shot.
When I drove up, I noticed
there were gates to guide the
lines, but there were no lines!
Aft er reaching the entrance of
the school, with only two people
in front of me, a guard confi
rmed my registration number
and asked me to proceed inside.
Th ere were guards wearing
signs saying what languages they
spoke and the corridor leading
to the cafeteria had spots on the
fl oor indicating where I should
stand. I slowly weaved my way
through the school’s winding
passageways to the open doors of
the cafeteria. A guard greeted me
and directed me to table 8, where
a grey-haired lady was sitting. I
asked her what she did and what
brought her here today. It turned
out she was a retired Manhattan
doctor of internal medicine who
had volunteered to administer
the shots. I was shocked to learn
that the majority of the people in
the open space cafeteria had volunteered
to aid the few Board of
Health employees.
Aft er I introduced myself as
being in the news business, my”
doctor” told me she’s a blogger
who oft en writes about her
socialist beliefs and she off ered
to share her blog with me. I
didn’t want to insult her or make
her uncomfortable, so I said I
would read her work.
But, I did give her a little talk
about my business and why I’m
a capitalist who employs almost
250 people! She smiled at me
and silently took out the vaccine
from a bin below the table.
I asked her if it needed to be
refrigerated and she assured me
it was safe.
As I looked around the quiet
room, I noticed about 50 tables
that had more workers than
patients. My “doctor” told me
how she waited four hours doing
nothing because of a computer
glitch. She fi nally was told
they found her assignment and
she should take a seat at a table.
It seems computer glitches and
navigating the programs for registering
are blocking
seniors, who
are oft en computer
challenged like me!
Within minutes
of receiving the
shot, which took
only a few seconds,
I was directed
to the “recovery”
room in the
school’s gymnasium.
A kind gentleman
greeted me
at the door and
helped me register
for my second
shot. He navigated
the computer program
so I didn’t
have to have my
daughter grunt and
groan again!
When I left , there was no line
outside, sadly no people getting
the vaccine, but still dozens of
workers waiting for people to
arrive.
Hopefully, with a new presidential
administration, a new
day will dawn with vaccines
available for all the people who
desperately want it and need it.
Here’s to a new day!
REMEMBERING MLK
“I have
decided to
stick with
love. Hate
is too great
a burden
to bear.”
— Martin Luther King Jr.
A look inside the COVID-19 vaccination site.
Spots on the flfl oor
helped guide the
way to the vaccine.
Volunteers helped those in the
“recovery room.”
After navigating online
for an hour, I got my
appointment.
link
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