ALBANY COUNTY — Any vaccinated adult is now eligible to get a COVID-19 booster shot.

On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna booster shots for fully vaccinated adults after which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gave its approval.

“This is great news as we enter the holiday season and gather indoors with friends and family,” said Governor Kathy Hochul in a statement on Friday evening. “Boosters can help provide additional protection, especially for those over the age of 50 and others with underlying conditions.”

She noted that 80 percent of New York adults are fully vaccinated.

People who received an original series of two Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech shots have to wait six months to be eligible for a booster shot. People who got the one-shot Johnston & Johnston are eligible for a second shot, a booster, after two months.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has allowed a mix-or-match approach so that the booster shot can be the same as or different from the original shots.

Boosters are recommended because the effectiveness of the vaccine wanes over time.

COVID-19 cases are rising once again both nationwide and in Albany County. The United States is averaging about 88,000 new COVID cases a day, up nearly a quarter from two weeks ago.

Places with low vaccination rates are the most hard hit. In New York State, rural areas generally have higher infection and transmission rates than urban or suburban areas.

As of Nov. 17, according to the state’s tracker, Albany County had 58.3 cases per 100,000 population compared to the statewide rate of 40.8 per 100,000. 

Also on Thursday, the state’s infection rate was 3.7 percent while Albany County’s was 5.8 percent.

The region with the highest infection rate was Western New York at 9.5 percent; New York City was the lowest at 1.5 percent.

On Friday morning, Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy announced 128 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the county’s five-day average of new daily positive cases up to 112.

McCoy also announced that another county resident, a man in his seventies, had succumbed to the virus, bringing the county’s death toll from COVID-19 to 437.

“This is the third consecutive day I’ve announced new daily COVID infections in the triple digits, as our five-day daily average jumps up to 112 and our percent positive rate increases to nearly 5 percent,” said McCoy in the release.

There are now 692 active cases in the county, up from 637 on Thursday. The number of county residents under quarantine increased to 1,218 from 1,169.

“These numbers should be concerning to everyone, because we often see a spike in hospitalizations and deaths after a spike in new positive cases,” McCoy said.

There were six new hospitalizations since yesterday, and there are still a total of 27 county residents hospitalized with the coronavirus. Six of those hospital patients are in intensive-care units, one more than on Thursday.

“We can prevent another deadly winter like our last one if more people get vaccinated, get the booster shot, wear masks at indoor public places, stay home if they’re feeling sick, and get tested ahead of the holidays,” McCoy said.

As of Thursday, 74.4 percent of all Albany County residents have received at least the first dose of the vaccine, and 67.4 percent have been fully vaccinated. The first-dose vaccination rate for the county’s adult population is now up to 84.5 percent.