ALBANY COUNTY — Long-held anticipation was answered this week as on Monday, the Food and and Drug Administration approved the first COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer-BioNTech, and on Tuesday New York’s new governor, Kathy Hochul, said fighting

“There are billions in federal aid to help renters who fell behind on payments in the pandemic, but this money isn’t getting to them,” said New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli in a statement releasing a report, “New York State Rent Relief Funding.” The state’s moratorium on evictions ends on Aug. 31.

Governor Kathy Hochul’s initiatives were embraced immediately by Albany County’s executive, by the state’s largest teachers’ union, and by the state’s health commissioner.

Albany County saw a 23.7 percent increase in local sales-tax collections, going from $19,954,544 in July 2020 to $24,680,378 in July this year.

“While millions of people have already safely received COVID-19 vaccines, we recognize that for some, the FDA approval of a vaccine may now instill additional confidence to get vaccinated,” said Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock, in a release announcing the approval.

ALBANY COUNTY — At 10 a.m. Sunday, as Tropical Storm Henri was an hour from its predicted time to hit Long Island, Governor Andrew Cuomo held a press briefing in New York City.

These local students were named to the dean’s list from Purchase College for the spring 2021 semester with a grade point average of 3.5 or higher:

— Ethan Famodu of Schenectady;

— Reed Gordon of Slingerlands;

— Ashley Visker of Schenectady;

— Sean Gordon of Slingerlands; and

These local students were named to the dean’s list from State University of New York Delhi for the spring 2021 semester with a grade point average of 3.5 or higher:

— Anna Clarke of Delma;

— Jeffrey Taylor of Schenectady;

— Marie Julian of Voorheesville;

— Laura Garcia of Slingerlands;

These local students have recently earned diplomas from the University of Rhode Island:

— Emily Barranca of Delmar, earned a master of science in mathematics;

— Andrew Victor Boeri of Schenectady earned a bachelor of science in business administration, major in finance;

These local students were named to the dean’s list from Union College for the spring 2021 semester with a grade point average of 3.5 or higher:

— Michael Connolly of Delmar, a member of the Class of 2022 majoring in biology and chinese;