Linda Gaskins calls it her “Golden Ticket.”

A driver for Bay Transit, the public transportation division of Bay Aging, Gaskins was referring to the vaccination record card she received after getting the first dose of the Moderna vaccine.

One of approximately 85 men and women who have been driving Bay Transit buses throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Gaskins was among a large group of Bay Transit drivers who recently received the first of two COVID-19 vaccinations at the Richmond County Rescue Squad Building in Warsaw.

For Gaskins, who started working for Bay Transit in August 2019, driving a bus was something to do after retiring. “I love it! After I retired, I got bored and wanted something fun to do,” Gaskins recalled. “I love the people I pick up and have developed wonderful relationships with many of them. Before COVID, they could come on the bus and chat. Now it’s harder to do because of all the safety protocols we’ve implemented. We have plexiglass partitions around the d...