ALBANY COUNTY — After weeks of debate and confusion over booster shots, on Monday, the shots started being given to eligible New Yorkers who had received their second dose of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at least six months before.

The president of Albany Medical Center on Tuesday thanked Governor Kathy Hochul for issuing an executive order on Monday night that will allow out-of-state and out-of-country nurses and medically trained National Guard members to fill in for needed health-care workers. The order also expands the role of emergency medical technicians and lets retired health-care workers re-enter the workforce.

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.

On Friday, Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, took 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.

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday issued its guidance for a more limited use than the Biden administration had called for, including people 65 and older, people at high risk of severe COVID-19; and people whose frequent occupational exposure to the virus puts them at high risk of serious complications of COVID-19.

Johnson & Johnson reports a second shot improves efficacy to 100 percent protection against critical COVID-19.

The state Department of Health filed an emergency regulation, which became effective on Aug. 27, that requires all students, faculty, and staff of all public and private schools in the state to wear masks inside school buildings.

The trial involved 2,268 participants who were 5 to 11 years old and received a two-dose regimen of the vaccine, at a lesser dose than the adult vaccine.

Any court decisions, like the one issued this week, temporarily restraining mandated vaccination will be appealed by the state, said Governor Kathy Hochul.

“We have the tools to combat the virus, if we can come together as a country and use those tools,” said President Joe Biden in his Thursday night speech. “If we raise our vaccination rate, protect ourselves and others with masking, expanding testing and identify people who are infected, we can and we will turn the tide on COVID-19.”