ALBANIA – Capital Region officials are urging the public to keep an eye on local websites and social media pages for information on upcoming COVID-19 vaccination clinics, as more doses will be available in the coming weeks.
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The Albany County Health Commissioner, dr. Elizabeth Whalen said on Friday the country was prepared to administer more vaccine this week than “in all previous weeks combined.” The province receives approximately 1400 doses per week. This week, however, the country received more than 8,000 doses and was able to re-assign it to the neighboring provinces of Rensselaer and Schenectady.
“Please register … if we continue to do more vaccination, we’re going to beg people and beg people to make appointments to be vaccinated in a few weeks,” Albany County CEO Dan McCoy said Friday.
Provinces in the metropolitan area were able to turn in more vaccination clinics as the supply to the area increased, and urged people to pre-register for the vaccine if they had not already done so. Many provinces now offer pre-registration options on their websites that alert the person via SMS or email when the vaccine is available.
“We maintain mailing lists of people interested in vaccine,” said Rich Crist, director of operations in Rensselaer County. “I called a lot of people today and got a lot, ‘No, I’m in Albany or cared for by my doctor,’ so things’ go on.
Vaccination rates remain low but improve across the region.
According to Thursday, 10.5 percent of the people in the region with eight provinces were fully vaccinated against coronavirus and 20 percent received at least one dose, according to a Times Union analysis of data provided by the state. Experts said the coverage rates of at least 70 percent are needed to achieve herd immunity.
In a sign of the increasing supply, Albany County reported Friday morning that it had a vaccination clinic at the Times Union Center in Albany on Saturday, even though the registration link went up the night before.
“If we put out a POD link, fill it out in five to ten minutes,” Whalen said. “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 launched a registration link at 5pm on Thursday for the clinic designed to serve individuals aged 65 or older. 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.
The country sent a text blast on Friday afternoon to people pre-registered for vaccinations in an attempt to fill the spaces. Mary Rozak, spokeswoman for the county, said Friday night 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. In recent weeks, provinces have also received permission from the state to vaccinate people with underlying health conditions. And last Friday, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said provincial health departments could also vaccinate the elderly. The different rules for different vaccine providers was a stumbling block for some who were wondering to go for the vaccine.
As supply increased, provinces made efforts to reach marginalized and remote communities. Albany County held a clinic in the Hilltowns at Knox Town Hall on Friday and said it also plans to administer vaccine in Bern and Westerlo.
This week, the province also delivered 400 doses of vaccine to the Watervliet Senior Center, 250 doses to the Mohawk ambulance to deliver the vaccine directly to elderly people brought home, 100 doses to the U.S. Legionate Office in North Albany and 70 doses to the To bring Metropolitan Baptist Church to Albany. .
“This is not a one-time ministry,” Whalen said. ‘We need to be able to have other ways to vaccinate people, and especially when we’re talking about high-risk communities, color communities and isolated communities, we need to be able to bring the vaccine to people so that they can be vaccinated. in place. ”
Another death due to coronavirus cases
Another resident of the Main Region has died due to complications of COVID-19, officials announced Friday. The victim was a man from Albany County in his 80s.
More than 1,000 people from the metropolitan area have died from the disease since the pandemic began.
Confirmed cases and hospitalizations due to coronavirus continue to decline from their mid-January highs.
As of Thursday, the region averaged 201 new cases of the virus per day – a drop of 220 the previous day and a high of 1,009 in January. The percentage of people who test positive for the virus in the region remains around 2 percent. On Thursday, the current seven-day positive rate was 1.9 percent. This number has been around 2 percent since mid-February.
Meanwhile, Capital Region hospitals on Thursday reported that 117 coronavirus patients had been treated, slightly lower than 118 the previous day.