Officials plead as vaccine supply increases

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Albany County Health Commissioner Dr Elizabeth Whalen said on Friday the county was ready to administer more vaccines this week than “all previous weeks combined.” The county receives approximately 1,400 doses per week. This week, however, the county received more than 8,000 doses and was able to reallocate some of them to neighboring Rensselaer and Schenectady counties.

“Please sign up … as we keep pushing more vaccines, (in) a few more weeks we’re going to beg people, begging people” to make an appointment to get vaccinated, the executive said on Friday. Albany County, Dan McCoy.

Counties in the capital region have been able to schedule more vaccination clinics as supply in the region has increased, and are urging people to pre-register for the vaccine if they don’t have it. already done. Many counties now offer pre-registration options on their websites that alert the person by text or email when the vaccine becomes available.

“We maintain mailing lists of people interested in vaccines,” said Rich Crist, Rensselaer County Director of Operations. “I called a lot of these people today and I was getting a lot of ‘No, I was taken care of in Albany or by my doctor’ so things are progressing.”

Immunization rates remain low but are improving across the region.

As of Thursday, 10.5% of residents in the eight-county area had been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus and 20% had received at least one dose, according to a Times Union analysis of data provided by the state. Experts said vaccine coverage rates of at least 70 percent would be needed to achieve herd immunity.

As a sign of the increased supply, Albany County reported on Friday morning that it had opened an immunization clinic at the Times Union Center in Albany on Saturday, even though its registration link was posted online on Saturday. previous night.

“Usually when we put a POD link it fills up in about five to ten minutes,” Whalen said. “We put this link yesterday and we still have a lot of places. So we hope that they will be filled and we hope that if we still have capacity, we will be allowed to expand the scope of this clinic because we know the mission the most important thing is to be able to get the vaccine out and we are ready and prepared to do so. “

The county launched a registration link for the clinic designed to serve people aged 65 or older at 5 p.m. Thursday. As of late Friday morning, more than 1,300 slots were still available – a sign that seniors may still have difficulty navigating online planning systems or that supply is finally catching up with demand.

The county texted people who had pre-registered for vaccines on Friday afternoon in an effort to fill the slots. County spokeswoman Mary Rozak said on Friday evening the county had also received approval to expand clinic eligibility to those with certain health conditions.

“We’ve had a few openings and the goal is to get shots, so we got permission to make that change,” she said.

The county was previously only allowed to vaccinate essential workers. In recent weeks, counties have also received state permission to vaccinate people with underlying health conditions. And last Friday, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said county health departments may also start vaccinating the elderly. The different rules for different vaccine providers have been a barrier for some wondering where to turn for the vaccine.

As supply increased, counties stepped up efforts to reach marginalized and remote communities. Albany County held a clinic in Knox Town Hall Hilltowns on Friday and announced plans to administer the vaccine in Bern and Westerlo as well.

The county also directed 400 doses of vaccine this week to the Watervliet Senior Center, 250 doses to Mohawk Ambulance to deliver the vaccine directly to homebound seniors, 100 doses to the American Legion station in North Albany and 70 doses to the Metropolitan Baptist Church of Albany. .

“It’s not a one-size-fits-all operation,” Whalen said. “We need to be able to have other ways to immunize people and, in particular, when we talk about high risk communities, communities of color and isolated communities, we need to be able to bring the vaccine. to people so that they can be vaccinated. in place.”

Another death as coronavirus cases drop

Another resident of the capital region has died from complications from COVID-19, officials said on Friday. The victim was a man from Albany County in his 80s.

More than 1,000 people in the capital region have died from the disease since the start of the pandemic.

Confirmed cases and hospitalizations from the coronavirus continue to fall from their peaks in mid-January.

As of Thursday, the region recorded an average of 201 new cases of the virus per day – up from 220 the day before and a maximum of 1,009 in January. The percentage of people testing positive for the virus in the region continues to hover around 2%. As of Thursday, the seven-day positivity rate was 1.9%. This number has been at or near 2% since mid-February.

Meanwhile, hospitals in the capital region reported treating 117 coronavirus patients on Thursday, down slightly from 118 the day before.