Sunday sign-up tops 250K as New Yorkers with comorbidities are now eligible for vaccine

ALBANY COUNTY — On Sunday, more than a quarter of a million appointments were made for COVID-19 vaccinations at state sites.

The 250,924 appointments were the most booked in a single day, according to a release from the governor’s office. Sunday was the first day that New Yorkers with comorbidities — ranging from cancer to obesity — could sign up for the shots.

Over 1.6 million New Yorkers were screened online on Valentine’s Day, which is 13 percent of all screenings since January. The average wait for scheduling an appointment was 13 minutes and 36 seconds.

The state’s hotline received 30,543 calls, with an average wait time of 24 minutes and 43 seconds.

The addition of New Yorkers with comorbidities — to the already-eligible nursing home workers and residents, health-care workers, essential workers, and people 65 and older — means about 10 million New Yorkers now qualify for vaccination.

One in seven New York voters has already been vaccinated and 22 percent are not planning to get vaccinated, according to a Siena College poll released on Tuesday.

“While between 12 and 19 percent of voters from every region and party have been vaccinated, with Democrats and upstaters leading the way, there are distinct racial and income disparities in this early vaccination period,” Siena college pollster Steven Greenberg said in a press release.

Although 20 percent of white voters have been vaccinated, only 10 percent of Black voters and 5 percent of Latino voters have been.

Only 9 percent earning less than $50,000 annually have been vaccinated, compared to 14 percent who earn between $50,000 and $100,000, and 25 percent earning over $100,000.

“When it comes to whether or not they plan to get vaccinated, there are wide differences by party and race,” said Greenberg. “While only 17 percent of Democrats and 21 percent of independents do not plan to get vaccinated, 35 percent of Republicans say they will pass on the vaccine.

Eighteen percent of white voters say no to the vaccine. However, 34 percent of Latino and 37 percent of Black voters say they don’t plan on getting vaccinated, Greenberg reported. 

New York is in its ninth week of receiving vaccine doses from the federal government and has so far received 3,371,025, based on the state’s population. Both of the vaccines currently available require two shots several weeks apart.

Statewide this week, 87 percent of received vaccine doses have been administered.

In the Capital Region, of which Albany County is a part, 178,704 of the 214,270 doses received this week have been administered, which is 83 percent, according to a Tuesday release from the governor’s office.

Starting next week, local health departments will get allocations of vaccine doses for people with comorbidities who must document their eligibility by showing a doctor’s letter, medical information evidencing comorbidity, or signed certification.

As of Tuesday morning, Albany County has had 19,699 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 58 news cases since Monday, according to a release from Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy’s office.

Of the new cases, 38 did not have clear sources of infection identified, 16 had close contact with someone infected with the disease, and four are health-care workers or residents of congregate settings. 

The five-day average for new daily positives has decreased to 73 from 79.6. There are now 694 active cases in the county, down from 728 on Monday.

The number of Albany County residents under mandatory quarantine decreased to 1,570 from 1,826. So far, 60,897 residents have completed quarantine. Of those, 19,005 had tested positive and recovered. That is an increase of 91 recoveries since Monday.

There were four new hospitalizations overnight, and there are now 64 county residents currently hospitalized from the virus. There are still 12 patients in intensive-care units.

For the first time in over a week, there were no new deaths caused by the virus. Albany County’s COVID-19 death toll still stands at 342.

The Capital Region appears to be out of the danger zone with availability of hospital beds.

Currently, 241 Capital Region residents are hospitalized with COVID-19, which is 0.02 percent of the region’s population, leaving 31 percent of its hospital beds available.

Central New York and New York City have the same worst rate.

Statewide, 0.03 percent of New Yorkers are hospitalized with COVID-19, leaving 34 percent of hospital beds available.

For the first time in weeks, two of the state’s other 10 regions have a worse rate than the Capital Region for available ICU eds. Currently, 162 of the region’s 235 ICU beds are filled, leaving 22 percent available.

Long Island has 21 percent and New York City has 20 percent of its ICU beds available.

Statewide, 26 percent of ICU beds are available.

As of Monday, as a seven-day average, the Capital Region has an infection rate of 2.27 percent. Statewide, the infection rate is 3.71 percent.

Albany County, as of Monday, as a seven-day rolling average, has an infection rate of 3.7 percent, according to the state’s dashboard.

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