ALBANY COUNTY — After Monday’s COVID-19 vaccination clinic, Albany County is hosting another clinic on Thursday. A registration link is posted on the county’s website.

Over 3 million New Yorkers, or 15.2 percent, have gotten their first doses, a Tuesday release from the governor’s office said.

Those have all been of Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech, which each require two shots several weeks apart.

Meanwhile, in its 12th week of receiving vaccine doses from the federal government, New York expects to receive 164,800 doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine this week, which requires just one shot.

Mass vaccinations sites to administer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine are being set up at Yankee Stadium on March 4 and the Javits Center on March 5, both in New York City, and also at the State Fair in Syracuse on March 5.

Those sites will be run overnight, according to the governor’s office, and appointments are required.

The governor’s office on Tuesday also provided a breakdown by race of New Yorkers who have so far received at least one dose of vaccine. 

In the Capital Region, of those who have gotten shots, 93.3 percent were white, 3.5 percent were African-American, 2.7 percent were Asian, and 0.5 percent were “other.”

Statewide, 79.2 percent were white, 8.7 percent were African American, 10.5 percent were Asian, and 1.6 percent were “other.”

Still here

Another Albany County resident — a woman in her seventies — has died of COVID-19, according to a release from Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy. Her death brings the county’s toll to 353.

He also reported 46 new cases since Monday.

“While vaccinations are a priority, testing is still an important tool to identify where the virus is spreading and stop it in its tracks, especially because many carrying COVID are asymptomatic,” said McCoy in a statement. “Unfortunately, we’re seeing reports of declining demand for tests across the country because of COVID fatigue, winter weather, and a greater focus on vaccinations. We may be seeing the early signs of that here in Albany County and we can’t allow it to happen.”

Guilderland’s town supervisor, Peter Barber, noted on Monday in his daily COVID-19 email to residents that, for the past week, both the seven-day and 14-day averages at the county and regional levels have fluctuated up and down around 2 percent, which he called “a much better number than the 10% rate in late January but far worse than 0.5% in early September.”

Barber went on, “The fact that the daily and extended averages are all hovering around 2% suggests that the spread of the infection has plateaued at a still high rate.”

He reported a similar trend with the COVID-related ambulance transports made by the town’s emergency medical services. Since the first hospital trip on March 13, 2020, the town has transported 266 COVID patients.

In the summer and early fall, transports ranged from four to 11 a month.

“In January, the ambulance transports spiked to a record 61 transports (it was 38 in December),” Barber wrote. “The transports declined in February to 20, far greater than the summer months’ average of 7 transports. The past two weeks alone had 11 positive transports.”

Nursing homes see 82 percent decline in cases

On Tuesday, a report was released showing nursing homes in the United States have seen the lowest number of new COVID-19 cases since the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services started tracking cases in May 2020, suggesting that the vaccines are working.

The report was released by the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living, which represents more than 14,000 nursing homes and long-term care facilities across the country, providing care to approximately five million people each year.

Mark Parkinson, president and chief executive officer of the association, called on caregivers and staff who haven’t been vaccinated to do so.

CMS data shows that nursing homes have had an 82-percent decline in new COVID-19 cases among residents since the peak during the week of Dec. 20 of last year when there were more than 30,000 new resident cases.

The report shows 33,272 new cases among nursing home residents on Dec. 20, a number that steadily declined to 6,077 on Feb. 7

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had recommended that nursing home residents and workers be among the first to be vaccinated, a protocol followed in New York State. Governor Andrew Cuomo said last month that all New York State nursing home residents and workers had been offered the vaccine.

In the same period of time, community cases in the general population dropped by 46 percent, indicating that vaccines are having an impact in protecting the elderly population in nursing homes.

Simultaneously, the data shows COVID-related deaths in nursing homes declined by 63 percent since Dec. 20, 2020, dropping from 5,932 — to 2,211 on Feb. 7.

Finally, Parkinson said in a statement, “Most importantly, we call on the administration to review its current guidance to nursing homes on restricting visitors and group activities. With millions of residents and caregivers now fully protected thanks to the vaccines, residents must be able to safely reengage in meaningful activities and be reunited with their loved ones.”

Nursing homes in New York are now allowed to have visitors provided protocols are followed. No visitors are allowed for 14 days if a nursing home worker or resident has tested positive for COVID-19.

$5.4 million For airport

Also on Tuesday, Congressman Paul Tonko announced that Albany International Airport will receive a combined $5,412,267 to support COVID pandemic response at the facility as part of the Coronavirus Relief and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2020, passed by Congress last year.

“This Coronavirus Relief grant will enable the Airport Authority to continue to provide a safe environment for travelers and staff members and meet our ongoing operational expenses which have remained constant despite the significant drop in air travel,” said Philip Calderone, chief executive officer of the Albany County Airport Authority, in a statement.

The bulk of the funds, $5,091,757, will go to cover costs related to operations, personnel, cleaning, sanitization, janitorial services,, and other measures taken to promote passenger safety.

The remaining $320,510 will go to deliver economic relief from rent and minimum annual guarantees to on-airport car rental, on-airport parking, and in-terminal concessions.

Newest numbers

As of Tuesday morning, Albany County has had 20,605 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including the 46 new cases.

Of the new cases, 30 did not have clear sources of infection identified, 13 had close contact with someone infected with the disease, and three were health-care workers or residents of congregate settings.

The five-day average for new daily positives has dropped to 66.4 from 80.4. There are now 584 active cases in the county, down from 611 yesterday.

The number of Albany County residents under quarantine decreased to 1,494 from 1,511. So far, 64,425 residents have completed quarantine. Of those, 20,021 had tested positive and recovered. That is an increase of 70 recoveries since Monday.

There were seven new hospitalizations overnight, and there are now 41 county residents hospitalized from the virus — a net increase of five. There are currently four patients in intensive-care units, up from three on Monday. 

As of Monday, the Capital Region has an infection rate, as a seven-day average, of 1.88 percent. Statewide, the positivity rate was 3.09 percent.

Albany County, as of Monday, as a seven-day rolling average, has an infection rate of 1.8 percent, according to the state’s dashboard.