ALBANY COUNTY — On Tuesday, as President Joe Biden announced the date for universal eligibility for COVID-19 vaccination is moving forward from May 1 to April 19, New York State was already there.

Tuesday marked the first day that any New Yorker 16 or older would be eligible for vaccination. Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a “Vaccinate NY” ad campaign to run on television, radio, online and print statewide.

Biden said new variants are spreading and we are in a “life-and-death race with this virus” as more vaccine rolls out.

Nationwide, more than 2 million shots a day are being given as, over the last two weeks, the United States has experienced a 20-percent increase in new COVID-19 cases.

As of Tuesday evening, 41.1 percent of Albany County’s 307,117 residents had gotten at least a first shot. Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy announced in a release on Tuesday morning that 26.8 percent of county residents had completed a vaccine series.

Statewide, 33.8 percent of New Yorkers have had at least one shot while 21.2 percent have completed a series, according to the state’s vaccine tracker.

Meanwhile, Albany County’s infection rate, as of Monday, as a seven-day rolling average, was 2.4 percent, according to the state’s dashboard.

Statewide, the infection rate, also as of Monday, as a seven-day rolling average, was 3.6 percent.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracker, Albany County’s level of community transmission of COVID-19 was at the worst rating — high — on Tuesday night. Most of the state is categorized as “high” as are 37 percent of counties nationwide.

Help for eateries

On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer announced from a grill in Amsterdam that restaurants across the state are eligible for their own federal pandemic relief through the American Rescue Plan.

Schumer said he is pushing the Small Business Association to set up the new program quickly.

“Even with 75-percent capacity rules that started on March 19, Capital Region restaurants, their employees, and the overall regional economy still need immediate federal relief to weather COVID because too many of the places we know and love could close without the help, leaving a giant hole in our local economy,” said Schumer.

At the height of the pandemic, the New York State Restaurants Association estimated that 80 percent of restaurant employees were out of work and one in every six restaurants closed.

The association’s report points out that New York has fared worse than the rest of the nation: Over half of New York’s restaurants — 54 percent — said they likely would not survive the next six months without federal relief. This compares to 37 percent of restaurants nationwide.

Food service or drinking establishments, including caterers, brewpubs, taprooms, and tasting rooms, that are not part of an affiliated group with more than 20 locations, will be eligible. Grants from the fund can be used alongside first and second Paycheck Protection Program loans, SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan assistance, and the Employee Retention Tax Credit.

The grant maximum is $10 million per restaurant group and $5 million per individual restaurant.

Monument for essential workers

Cuomo on Tuesday announced members of a committee to advise in the design of a monument “honoring the service and sacrifice” of essential workers, to be built in New York City.

He made the announcement at the Javits Center which had served the city as a makeshift hospital during the springtime surge of COVID-19.

Cuomo recalled giving the stay-home order, closing schools and businesses to keep New Yorkers safe, which he said was his toughest decision.

“You know what the next sentence out of my mouth was? Except you, essential workers. We need you to go to work,” Cuomo recalled. “Everybody else can stay home and be safe, but not you, essential worker. We need you to leave your house because we need you to keep society stable.”

“We’re judged as an enlightened society, as a humane society, by how we help those who need our help the most,” said Mario Cilento, president of New York State AFL-CIO who is on the advisory committee for the memorial.

“This memorial is a tribute to the humanity showed by these brave men and women. The humane standard they have left behind for all of us now to attain moving forward — that’s why this is so important,” said Cilento at the Javits Center event. “It is the example that they set for all of us.”