Diversity Rules Magazine

Her most recent book, An American Queer, a collec on of "The Amazon Trail" columns, was presented with the 2015 Golden Crown Literary Society Award in Anthology/Col- lec on Crea ve Non Fic on. This, and her award-winning fic on, including The Raid, The Swashbuckler, and Beggar of Love, can be found at h p://www. boldstrokes- books.com/Author-Lee-Lynch.html. Now that President Biden and Vice President Harris are in office, I've been able to have my first Covid 19 vaccine shot. It was no big deal. I went to our county fairgrounds ex- pec ng to be injected through my car win- dow, the way I was tested. I thank my lucky stars the test was nega ve. I'm grateful to the medical profession that persisted in making tests and vaccines available despite the disin- forma on and profiteering of our former leaders. Turned out, the vaccines were administered in the same exhibit building that's used for our winter farm- ers' market, a very familiar and reassuring space. The six-foot tables that usually serve to display cra s or local mushrooms and goat cheeses, were now place markers. Two representa ves of our Sheriff's Mounted Posse, minus their mounts, stood at the door, masked and cha ng with new arrivals. We weren't exactly an unruly crowd—age seventy-five at the youngest—so there was li le for them to do. Once inside, our tem- peratures were taken, we were sent along to show ID and turn in required paperwork. Some internet averse or disabled people filled out that paperwork on site, assisted by caretakers and community help- ers. One half hour was allo ed for each group to be vac- cinated. Firefighters led the way to makeshi cor- rals, maybe twelve foot by twelve foot, and to in- adequately distanced folding chairs. No ma er, it's in the nature of groups to group, and people knew each other so there was never a chance some would voluntarily social distance, despite the fact that they were there to prevent dying in a pandemic. The firefighters then de- posited us, one at each end of the tables. I spot- ted non-gay neighbors in front of me and we cheer- fully visited—at a distance. They've since invited me to ride with them for our sec- ond shots. That could have been fun and memorable, I thought later, especially if we gave one another the virus while enclosed in a car. Which brought me back to the first inocula on I re- member. I was in elementary school when American schoolchildren became guinea pigs for Dr. Salk's vac- cine. We waited on line outside the Flushing, Queens P.S. 20 gymnasium, in enforced quiet, dozens of sol- emn, worried kids. Personally, I was terrified of being shut inside an iron lung and welcomed the chance to avoid that fate. The Covid 19 vaccines have emergency authoriza on; the polio shots were experimental. Some children received the actual inocula on, others a placebo. We filed into the gym and stopped at li le sta ons staffed by who-knew-who. I asked this me, and confirmed that RNs were giving the Covid injec ons. Amazon Trail - Con't on page 18 The Amazon Trail Covid-19 Pioneer By Lee Lynch (c) Can Stock Photo Inc. / grsphoto Diversity Rules Magazine|Mar 2021|11

• Cover