ALBANY COUNTY — On Friday, county leaders stressed the need for residents to get vaccinated and also to continue to follow protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19 until herd immunity is reached.

“We’re seeing a spike in certain areas,” said Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy during his Friday briefing, naming Connecticut, New Jersey, Mid-Hudson, and Long Island.

“We don’t want to see that here ...,” he said. “Italy’s on lockdown again. Europe’s on lockdown again.”

McCoy noted the number of new cases in the county was on a downward trend; he announced 65 new cases on Friday, and had announced 90 on Thursday. “It’s weird that 90 is not a big number anymore,” he said.

So far, 30.4 percent of Albany County residents have gotten a first dose of vaccine and 15.4 percent have completed a series of two doses, McCoy said.

Statewide, 24.6 percent of New Yorkers have received a first dose, and 12.7 have completed a vaccination series, according to the state’s vaccine tracker.

Both the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines require two doses several weeks apart. Albany County this week received its first allotment of Johnson & Johnson vaccine, to be used on homebound residents, which requires just one shot.

To date, 35,000 people have pre-registered for vaccination on the county’s website at alb.518c19.com; 24,000 of those were Albany County residents, McCoy said.

Any eligible New Yorker can be vaccinated at the county’s point of dispensing, or POD, typically held at the Times Union Center in Albany.

On March 25, 27, and 29, people with vaccination appointments through the county’s health department will get their shots at the Capital Center because the Times Union Center is being used then for the National Collegiate Athletic Association Men’s Ice Hockey Regional competitions.

“We’re knocking that list down so please pre-register because we’re at the point where we’re not going to have anyone left on the list,” said McCoy. Of the percentage to reach herd immunity, he said, “We need to get to 70.”

Public-facing workers in government jobs or those employed at not-for-profit organizations are now eligible for shots along with other essential worker, including teacher and restaurant workers, as well as anyone 60 or older.

“We have been able to get out with our partners almost 25,000 vaccines,” said Albany County Health Commissioner Elizabeth Whalen.

The county’s POD has administered 17,455 doses while 509 doses were reallocated to Russell Sage and University at Albany workers and 102 dioses were administered at St. Sophia’s.

“We look forward to the expansion of the criteria for vaccination,” said Whalen.

She noted President Joe Biden’s directive that all states should make everyone 18 or older eligible for vaccination by May 1.

Whalen said the county has not yet had problems filling up appointments.

“I would attribute that to the fact that there have been changes that continue to evolve to allow us to open up to more individuals and in particular we had advocated for, the county executive advocated for local health departments to vaccinate all eligible populations, not to be pigeon-holded into certain eligible populations,” she said.

Whalen also said that, at this point, the county’s supply is not greater than demand. “But I do feel like there’s a little bit less pressure,” she said. “There is a little bit more availability and people that want to get vaccinated are able to find slots now.”

She concluded on availability, “We don’t waste a single dose of vaccine.”

Whalen made a strong plea for county residents to get vaccinated.

“When your time comes to be vaccinated, please sign up and be vaccinated,” she said. “It is the best way to move forward. You are not only helping yourself, you are helping those you are surrounded by.”

Whalen said some people are committed to getting vaccinated and others are committed not to.

“There are a lot of you that are in between,” she said, “and those are the people that I would like to speak to about the importance of having confidence in this vaccine.”

Whalen said she had reviewed the scientific evidence and that she herself had been vaccinated with Moderna.

“It cannot give you COVID …,” she said of the approved vaccines. “It helps you make antibodies so that, if you become exposed to the disease, you do not become sick, you do not have to be hospitalized, you do not have to die,” said Whalen.

She otd that it takes two weeks after the final shot for enough antibodies to have formed to protect from infection.

It is not a vaccine that can interfere with your DNA ,” said Whalen.

She advised consulting “trusted sources” like the county and state health department websites or the website for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Facebook is not a trusted source of vaccine information,” Whalen said.

She went over two important tenets.

First, she said, “Evidence does not equal anecdote.”

Evidence, she explained, takes the experiences of a large, statistically significant group of people and tells what the risk is. “Anecdote, in contrast, is a story from someone who gave you their personal experience — there is a big difference,” said Whalen.

Second, she said, “Correlation does not equal causality so, just because something happened that my have been temporarily related to something, it doesn’t mean it was a cause of something.”

She said vaccinated shouldn’t be eschewed because numbers of infections are going down. “We’re seeing in other countries a third wave,” said Whalen. She also noted that highly communicable strains are emerging land spreading.

She urged continued mitigation strategies: mask up,keep distant, avoid large gatherings, and wash hands.

Finally, she said, “Be vaccinated.”

Opening up

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Wednesday that professional sports in large outdoor stadiums that hold 10,000 people or more will be allowed to reopen at 20 percent capacity.

The state’s health department will re-evaluate the testing and vaccination entry requirements in May, and, if the public health situation continues to improve, they may be discontinued in mid-May.

At the same time, smaller, regional sports venues that hold 1,500 people indoors or 2,500 people outdoors can also reopen, beginning April 1. Initial capacity will be limited to 10 percent indoors and 20 percent outdoors.

Large outdoor performing arts venues, including stadiums, that hold more than 2,500 people can reopen at 20 percent capacity, beginning April 1. Venue capacity will continue to increase as the public health situation improves with more New Yorkers receiving vaccinations and fewer COVID-19 cases in the community.

In all cases,  attendees must show proof of a recent negative COVID-19 test or completed vaccination series before entry and are subject to strict state guidance on face coverings, social distancing, and health screening.

Albany County’s Times Union Center holds 17,000 people, McCoy said, and he will be lobbying for greater capacity.

“We need to open up to at least 25 percent ...,” he said. “It’s the only way arena football will be able to open up because they need the capacity to just break even … It puts people back to work,” he said of reopening.

McCoy also noted that, starting Monday, the current limit of 10 for residential gatherings will remain 10 for indoors but will be lifted to 25 people outdoors.

For social gatherings, the current limit of 50 will be lifted to 100 indoors and to 200 peoploutdoors.

Wedding receptions and catered events can resume, with restrictions, limited to 50-percent capacity and no more than 150 guests.

On Friday, restaurant capacity increased to 75 percent.

CDC: 3 feet is safe at school

On Friday, the CDC changed its guidance for safety at school from keeping six feet distant to three feet distant. The state’s health department has not yet adopted the new guidance.

“At this point, we are awaiting review and further guidance from the New York State Department of Health ...,” said Whalen. “We are all committed to doing what we can to get kids back into a school environment.”

McCoy said he believed all the schools in the county except the Albany City Schools already allowed for in-person learning.

The World Health Organization had set the distance at 1 meter, which is 3.3 feet.

Since the start of the pandemic, science has evolved on the subject, initially believing the virus was spread by droplets, which were unlikely to travel beyond 6 feet, but now believing COVID-19 is largely spread through little, light aerosols, which can spread longer distances.

Also, schools with young children have proven largely to be places where the infection rate is lower than the surrounding community. Children can become infected and transmit the disease but this happens less frequently than transmission to adults, scientists have found.

Schools in Britain, for example, with few restrictions, have had low rates of infection.

In January, the Guilderland schools did surveillance testing of 945 people, including students, faculty, and staff at all seven buildings. Just four of those results were positive. 

“I think it’s very encouraging, out of close to 1,000 tests, we had just four positives,” Superintendent Marie Wiles told The Enterpriseat the time. “It’s a strong indication school is a safe place to be.”

So far this school year, Guilderland, with about 4,800 students, has had 203 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 112 at the high school, which includes district-wide workers like bus drivers as well; 32 at Farnsworth Middle School; 18 at Westmere Elementary; 14 at Pine Bush Elementary; 10 each at Lynnwood and Altamont elementary schools; and 7 at Guilderland Elementary School.

Voorheesville, with about 1,200 students, has had 58 confirmed cases with 32 at the high school, 16 at the elementary school, and 10 at the middle school.

Berne-Knox-Westerlo, with about 780 students, has had 26 confirmed cases with 10 at the elementary school and 16 at the secondary school.

All three local school districts followed the original CDC guidance on mask-wearing and six-foot distancing.

On Friday, both the executive director of the New York State School Boards Association, Robert Schneider, and the president of New York State United Teachers, Andy Pallotta, put out statements responding to the new CDCguidance.

Schneider called for “Gov. Cuomo and the state Health Department to consider adopting the three-foot guideline in New York, or explain why they believe scientific evidence does not support such a change.” He noted the change would double schools’ capacity.

Palotta said, “When it comes to changing local reopening plans, districts must continue to work with educators and parents to maintain confidence in the safety of their buildings. Those decisions must be based on the circumstances within each school and must carefully consider all aspects of a responsible COVID-19 mitigation strategy. As public health officials have rightly cautioned, in the face of new variants and a race to make vaccinations widely available, this is not the time to let down our guard.” 

Newest numbers

As of Friday morning, Albany County has had 21,572 confirmed cases of COVID-19, McCoy announced, including the 65new cases.

Of the new cases, 47 did not have clear sources of infection identified, 14 had close contact with someone infected with the disease, two reported traveling out of state, and two were health-care workers or residents of congregate settings.

The five-day average for new daily positives has increased to 61 from 57.6. There are now 454 active cases in the county, down from 466 on Thursday.

The number of Albany County residents under quarantine decreased to 1,353 from 1,393. So far, 68,297 residents have completed quarantine. Of those, 21,118 had tested positive and recovered. That is an increase of 71 recoveries since Thursday.

There were five new hospitalizations overnight, and there are now 24 county residents hospitalized from the virus — a net increase of three. There are currently five patients in intensive-care units, unchanged from Thursday.

Albany County’s COVID-19 death toll remains at 365.

Statewide, the infection rate, as of Thursday, as a seven-day rolling average, is 3.3 percent, according to the state’s dashboard.

The rate for Albany county, also as of Thursday, as a seven-day rolling average, was 1.9 percent.