“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,” said Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy.

Starting next Monday, April 26, museum and zoo capacity will be raised to 50 percent, and theater capacity will go to 33 percent. On May 19, capacity at sports arenas will be raised to 25 percent, Cuomo announced.

This weekend, Albany Medical Center announced that, starting on Monday, visitors — with restrictions — will be allowed at the hospital. The expansion from one to two visitors at a time aligns with updated guidelines from the state’s health department.

Albany County officials call on residents Friday to "step up" for vaccines, and also called on the state to allow personal doctors to dispense vaccines.

The original curfew for restaurants and bars, adopted last year to stem the spread of the coronavirus, was 10 p.m.; that was pushed back to 11 p.m. in February.

For Farnsworth Middle School, its principal said, “One of the pillars is social equity … Something that’s always on our minds as educators here is make sure we are inclusive.”

The state launched a program to vaccinate college students, at both private and state schools, and also announced graduation ceremonies can be held in-person this year as long as regulations on capacity and admittance are followed.

“This new effort to bring the vaccine directly to farmers and food production workers at their places of employment is an important step forward to reaching a population that lives in more remote parts of the state,” said the governor.

So far, the UAlbany site has administered more than 150,000 shots since opening in January, with a capacity of approximately 2,000 shots per day. The new location at Crossgates has the ability to administer up to three times the number of doses since it is larger.

“For people who recently got the [Johnson & Johnson] vaccine within the last couple of weeks, they should be aware to look for any symptoms. If you’ve received the vaccine and develop severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath, you should contact your health-care provider and seek medical treatment,” said Ann Schuchat, the CDC’s principal deputy director, at a press briefing on Tuesday morning.