Vaccine slots available as another county resident dies of COVID-19

ALBANY COUNTY — The push for vaccination against COVID-19 continues as another county resident has died of the disease.

The latest casualty is a man in his sixties, bringing the county’s COVID-19 death toll to 373.

“This is now the fourth COVID death I have to report in the last three days,” said Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy, in a statement as he released the latest numbers. “On top of that, we now have two county residents under the age of 25 currently hospitalized from the virus.

“The only way we will be able to prevent future tragedies, to protect the ones we love and return to any sense of normalcy, is to get vaccinated,” he said.

The county is running a vaccination clinic at the Times Union Center in Albany on Thursday to administer Pfizer vaccine — the only one of the three authorized vaccines that 16- and 17-year-olds can have.

An online link for residents to sign up was posted on the county’s website on Monday yet, by Tuesday morning, McCoy said, there were still over 1,900 appointments available.

As of Tuesday evening, according to the state’s vaccine tracker, 49.6 percent of Albany County’s 307,117 residents had received a first dose of vaccine.

McCoy said on Tuesday morning that 35.1 percent had been fully vaccinated.

Statewide, 42.1 percent of New Yorkers have received at least a first shot of vaccine and 28.8 percent have completed a vaccine series.

The town of Guilderland, is holding a vaccination clinic on Thursday from 4 to 10 p.m. at its Emergency Medical Services station at 200 Centre Drive. Appointments must be made online. The clinic will administer first doses of the Pfizer vaccine, with the second dose provided on Thursday, May 13. Any resident 16 years of age is eligible. 

The Guilderland school district on Tuesday announced six more cases of COVID-19 since Saturday: three cases at Guilderland High School, one at Farnsworth Middle School and one each at Guilderland Elementary and Lynnwood Elementary Schools. 

According to the state’s COVID-19 Report Card, Guilderland schools, as of Tuesday night, have had a total of 230 confirmed cases.

“As cases seem to be on the rise in our area and across the nation,” Marie Wiles, the Guilderland schools superintendent, wrote in an email reporting the new cases, “I urge you to continue to be safe and follow all COVID safety guidelines.

McCoy on Tuesday morning reported 63 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the county’s tally to 23,466.

Of the new cases, 42 did not have clear sources of infection identified, 20 had close contact with someone infected with the disease, and one was a health-care worker or resident of a congregate living setting.

The five-day average for new daily positives remains at 64.8. There are now 513 active cases in the county, down from 531 on MOnday.

The number of Albany County residents under quarantine decreased to 1,026 from 1,029. So far, 75,341 residents have completed quarantine. Of those, 22,953 of them had tested positive and recovered. That is an increase of 77 recoveries since Monday.

There were seven new hospitalizations overnight and there are still 30 county residents hospitalized from the virus. There are currently eight patients in intensive-care units, down from nine on Monday.

Albany County’s infection rate, as of Monday, as a seven-day rolling average, was 2.8 percent, according to the state’s dashboard.

Statewide, the infection rate, also as of Monday, as a seven-day rolling average, was 3.0 percent.

More Regional News

The Altamont Enterprise is focused on hyper-local, high-quality journalism. We produce free election guides, curate readers' opinion pieces, and engage with important local issues. Subscriptions open full access to our work and make it possible.