ALBANY COUNTY — On Monday, the governor outlined plans for how booster shots — for eligible New Yorkers who received a second dose of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at least six months ago — will be administered.

Monday was also the deadline for hospital and nursing-home workers to be vaccinated and Governor Kathy Hochul had announced on Saturday steps to deal with possible staffing shortages.

“As we’ve heard from our federal and state medical and health experts, as with many other vaccines, the protection from the COVID-19 vaccine can wane over time,” Hochul said in a statement on Monday, releasing the booster-shot plan.

“A booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine will help particularly at-risk New Yorkers stay protected from the virus for longer,” she went on. “While the focus of our vaccination effort remains ensuring all unvaccinated New Yorkers get vaccinated, those who are booster eligible should waste no time receiving maximum protection from COVID-19 as soon as possible.”

The New York State Clinical Advisory Task Force endorsed Friday’s statement from Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Walensky had taken the unusual step of overruling the CDC’s advisory panel to align the CDC’s policy with the Food and Drug Administration’s recommendation on more people being eligible for booster shots.

Four groups of New Yorkers are now eligible for their COVID-19 booster dose.

New Yorkers who received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine should receive their booster dose at least six months after their primary vaccine series if they are 65 years and older or residents in long-term care settings, and if they are between ages 50 and 64 with underlying medical conditions.

New Yorkers who received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine may receive their COVID-19 booster dose at least six months after their primary vaccine series if they are 18 to 49 years old with underlying medical conditions, or if they are 18 to 64 years old and are at increased risk for COVID-19 exposure and transmission because of their jobs.

People who received the Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccine are not currently eligible for a booster dose, but may be in the near future.

 Free booster doses are already widely available statewide at state-run mass vaccination sites — including at the upper level of the former Lord & Taylor store at Crossgates Mall in Guilderland — and at pharmacies, local health departments, clinics, and Federally Qualified Health Centers.

The state has launched a new website with dedicated information about booster doses, additional doses, and eligibility.

Hochul last week announced $65 million in funding to county health departments to support the distribution of booster doses. Hochul also authorized emergency medical technicians to administer the COVID-19 vaccine.

All New York State mass vaccination sites are now open to booster-eligible New Yorkers. To schedule an appointment at a state-run mass vaccination site, New Yorkers can visit the Am I Eligible page or call 1-833-NYS-4-VAX.

People may also contact their local health department, pharmacy, or doctor to schedule appointments where vaccines are available. New Yorkers may also visit vaccines.gov, text their ZIP code to 438829, or call 1-800-232-0233 to find locations near them.

Meeting mandates

On Saturday, preparing for today’s deadline requiring health-care workers at hospitals and nursing homes to be vaccinated, Hochul released a plan to deal with preventable staffing shortages in hospitals and other health care facilities statewide.

“I am monitoring the staffing situation closely, and we have a plan to increase our health-care workforce and help alleviate the burdens on our hospitals and other health care facilities,” Hochul said in a statement. 

The plan includes preparing to sign an executive order if necessary to declare a state of emergency that seeks to increase workforce supply and allow qualified health-care professionals licensed in other states or countries, recent graduates, retired and formerly practicing health-care professionals to practice in New York State.

The state’s labor department has issued guidance to clarify that workers who are terminated because of refusal to be vaccinated are not eligible for unemployment insurance absent a valid doctor-approved request for medical accommodation.

Other options include deployment of medically-trained National Guard members, and partnering with the federal government to deploy Disaster Medical Assistance Teams to assist local health and medical systems. Additionally, Hochul plans to work with the federal government and other state leaders to explore ways to expedite visa requests for medical professionals, according to the governor’s office release.

As of Sept. 22, the office reported, 84 percent of all hospital employees in the state were fully vaccinated. As of Sept. 23, eighty-one percent of staff at all adult care facilities and 77 percent of all staff at nursing home facilities in New York State were fully vaccinated.

According to the regulation issued by the State Department of Health, all health care workers in New York State, at hospitals and nursing homes, are to be vaccinated against COVID-19 with the first dose received by Monday, Sept. 27, and staff at other covered entities including home care, hospice, and adult care facilities are to be vaccinated by Oct. 7.

The regulation also applies to all out-of-state and contract medical staff who practice in New York State.

Another death

Another Albany County resident — a man in his seventies — has died of COVID-19, bringing the county’s death toll from the virus to 402, Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy reported in his Monday morning daily release.

He also reported 53 new cases of COVID-19, with a five-day average of 82.6.

There are now 505 active cases in the county, down from 540 on Sunday. The number of people under mandatory quarantine decreased to 879 from 891. 

There was one new hospitalization since Sunday, and 32 county residents are still hospitalized with the virus — a net decrease of three. There are now six patients in intensive-care units.