ALBANY – Albany County is announcing public appointments at a COVID-19 vaccination clinic scheduled for Saturday at the Times Union Center in Albany.
The province launched a registration link at 5pm on Thursday for the clinic designed to serve individuals aged 65 or older. But late Friday morning, there were still more than 1,300 slots available – a sign that seniors are still having trouble navigating online scheduling systems, or that demand is finally catching up.
“Usually, when we put out a POD link, it fills up within five to ten minutes,” said Dr. Elizabeth Whalen, provincial health commissioner, said Friday. “We put this link out yesterday and we still have a lot of places. So we hope that it will be filled and we hope that if we still have capacity, we will be able to increase the scope of the clinic because we know the most important mission is to vaccine and we are ready and willing to do that. ‘
The province sent an SMS on Friday afternoon to people who had pre-registered for vaccinations to let them know that slots were available in Saturday’s clinic. By 6 p.m., the number of open slots had shrunk to 500. On Friday night, Mary Rozak, spokeswoman for the county, said the province had received approval to also extend the qualification for the clinic to those with certain health conditions.
“We had a few openings and the goal is to get shots in the arms so we could get approval to make the change,” she said.
The province was previously only authorized to vaccinate essential workers and then recently people with underlying health conditions. Last Friday, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signaled that this would change, with health departments in the country soon to be able to vaccinate the 65-strong crowd.
Albany County officials on Friday appealed to the public to help friends and family members sign up for vaccinations for vaccines.
“If you know someone who has not been vaccinated yet, get it registered,” said Andrew Joyce, chairman of the Albany County Legislature. “Do what you can to get them registered, get them in the right place to be registered, get them vaccinated.”
Information on how to sign up for Saturday’s clinic is available on the country’s website. Volunteers will administer the first doses of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine at the clinic, and only people who can return for a second dose on Saturday, March 27, are encouraged to sign up. Individuals must bring their proof of identity to verify their age.
The clinic will take place from 10:00 to 15:30 at the Times Union Center, located at 51 S. Pearl St. Free parking is available at the Times Union Center parking garage at Wendell St. 9 or at the LAZ Pearl Street parking garage. 59 Beaver St. Those who download someone are asked to drop them off at the front entrance of the Times Union Center.
Coronavirus Updates
Albany County confirmed Friday that another resident has died due to the complications of COVID-19.
County McCarthy, executive, says the victim was a man in his 80s. It is now known that 359 provincial residents have died from the disease.
The province also confirmed 91 new cases of coronavirus overnight, raising the moving average from seven days to 64.
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Another seven residents were hospitalized with the virus overnight, and net hospitalizations grew by five to 40 overnight.