ALBANY COUNTY — On Monday night, the Food and Drug Administration authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds, which Albany County has been anticipating.
“We still need to wait for a recommendation from the CDC and further guidance from the state to know how we will move forward,” noted Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy on Tuesday.

Then, on Wednesday night, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced, “Today the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention endorsed the use of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for adolescents 12 to 15 years of age. That decision followed a thorough review of data and FDA’s expansion of the emergency use authorization for this vaccine earlier this week.”

Cuomo said that, “to further ensure the safety and effectiveness of New York State’s vaccination program,” the state’s health commissioner, Howard Zucker, and its Clinical Advisory Task Force conducted a concurrent review.

“I accepted their recommendation and am authorizing all providers enrolled in the NYS COVID-19 vaccination program to expand eligibility for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to people in the 12-15 age group, effective immediately,” Cuomo said in his 8:14 p.m. release on Wednesday.

Throughout its 60th week of battling the coronavirus, Albany County has continued its push — now that mass clinics are not instantly filling — to get skeptical residents vaccinated against COVID-19, with an emphasis on youth.

At the same time this week, the county focused on the other end of the age spectrum, starting a pilot program to resume congregate meals for seniors and noting visitors are being admitted to the county’s nursing home for the first time in more than a year.

At the state level, this week included announcements from Cuomo on opening beaches, pools, and ballparks as well as requiring students at state colleges and universities to be vaccinated to return to in-person classes in the fall.

County focuses on youth vaccination

Nationally, 22 percent of reported COVID cases are in the pediatric group, said Albany County Health Commissioner Elizabeth Whalen at a press briefing last Friday. “So we really want to make sure we can focus on this group,” she said.

Her department is communicating with local schools and pediatricians, urging the doctors to become certified vaccinators through the state’s Department of Health. It’s unlikely that all of the pediatricians in the county will become certified, Whalen said, so her department is asking them to consider assisting at the conty’s point of dispensing or POD.

“At all of our PODs, we have pediatricians and family practitioners who are there along with our nurses along with public health educators …. People can walk in,” said Whalen.

Anyone under 18 must have a parent with them or parental permission to be vaccinated.

McCoy urged parents, “Please, please educate yourselves. Look at the facts. Look at the studies. Help us get our schools back to normal.”

If enough children are vaccinated, he said, day camps could run this summer at 100-percent capacity.

“Teenagers like to be out and about a lot,” said Whalen. “They like to play sports. They like to be with their friends. This is a way to move them forward into normalcy.

She also noted that prom and graduation season is approaching and that state guidance requires testing in advance for gathering.

“It’s easier to get the vaccine so you won’t have to get tests for multiple functions,” said Whalen, concluding, “We wait for the spring and summer and, when it comes, we want to be able to enjoy it.”

On Monday, McCoy cited responses to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey that showed 30 percent of parents with children in the 12-to-15 age group planned to have their children vaccinated against COVID-19. Twenty-six percent of those surveyed fell into the “wait and see” category.

The survey also found that 18 percent plan to get their child vaccinated if their school requires it, and nearly a quarter said they will definitely not get their child vaccinated.

“Perhaps unsurprisingly, parents’ intentions for vaccinating their kids largely line up with their own intentions for getting the COVID-19 vaccine themselves,” says a report on the poll.

Among adults who had not yet been vaccinated, 9 percent said they planned to do so.

Whalen said the county has had “a lot of success” in vaccinating 16- to 18-year-olds with Pfizer, which is the only approved vaccine for people younger than 18.

Whalen said it is “very important” for parents to consider vaccinating their children. “It’s going to be a big relief to a lot of people,” she said.

Whalen again urged residents to converse with their primary-care doctors and parents to talk to their pediatricians about vaccination.

“Vaccination is the way we are going to get through this,” said Whalen. “Our numbers are very good in Albany County but they are not as good as they need to be.”

She urged people with COVID-19 symptoms to get tested. Whalen said testing has fallen off as more residents get vaccinated and fewer residents get infected with the virus.

She concluded, “We are still seeing cases. We are still seeing hospitalizations. And, unfortunately, even as recently as last week, we are seeing deaths from COVID-19.”

The county announced two more deaths this week from COVID-19: On Friday, the victim was a man in his seventies; on Monday, a woman in her fifties succumbed to the disease. Albany County’s COVID-19 death toll now stands at 378.

“We need the assistance of every single county resident to get through this,” Whalen said.

Statewide

On Wednesday, Cuomo announced that half of New Yorkers who are 18 or older have been vaccinated.

He also announced beaches and pools will operate with six-foot social distancing in anticipation of Memorial Day. The state’s goal, he said, is to reopen pools and beaches to 100-percent capacity by the Fourth of July.

At Sahlen Field in Buffalo on Wednesday, Cuomo compared New York’s infection rate of 1.1 percent to the national rate of 4 percent, calling for applause for “the good work of New Yorkers.”

He went on, “The weather is turning, the winter is over, we have to get on with life and we want to have a great summer. Statewide, Memorial Day, beaches and pools open with six feet social distancing. Our goal is by the Fourth of July to go to 100 percent capacity, all beaches, all pools. If the numbers keep going the way they're going, we're going to be able to do that.”

Cuomo announced pop-up vaccination sites at western New York rail stations, similar to those in New York City and on Long Island and, he said, people who get vaccinated at Sahlen field will receive vouchers for free tickets to Bisons games.

Finally, he announced a “vaccinated section” would open at Sahlen field on June 1, with tickets going on sale May 20. “This is another reason to get vaccinated,” said Cuomo.

Also on Wednesday, the state’s education commissioner, Betty Rosa, announced the Cultural Education Center in Albany — home to the State Museum, State Library, and State Archives — will open to the public on May 17, with new COVID-19 protocols in place.

New, temporary hours will be Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; admission, as always, is free. Masks are required and visitors to the museum and library should make advance reservations online or by phone to schedule admission; walk-ins will be admitted only as space allows.

On Monday, Cuomo had announced that students at state schools — in the State University of New York and the City University of New York systems — will need to be vaccinated in order to attend in-person classes in the fall, Cuomo said. 

“I also encourage private schools to do the same thing,” he said at a press briefing in New York City. “Let’s make a global statement. You cannot go back to school in person in September unless you have a vaccine. That will be a major motivation for people to get the vaccine.”

He had noted that young people, between the ages of 16 and 24, had the lowest rate of vaccination: 24.7 percent. The group age  with the highest rate — 73.6 percent — are New Yorkers between the ages of 65 and 74.

Also on Monday, Cuomo proposed legislation to stop discrimination against people who have been vaccinated.

“There are some situations where people are discriminating against people who got a vaccine, which is almost inexplicable to me,” he said. “There’s a situation with summer camps saying, ‘If you are vaccinated, you cannot go to that camp. If you’re vaccinated, you can’t be a staff member at that camp.’ We can’t be in a situation where we’re full-throated, encouraging people to get a vaccine and then have people saying, ‘If you get a vaccine, you can’t participate in this activity.’”

Cuomo said that he and the state’s health commissioner, Howard Zucker, had “been through this before” with mandating vaccination against measles a few years ago.

Cuomo said he understood the anti-vaccine argument. “In my opinion,” he said, “there is no science to it …. You can have a theory. You can have a belief, but you can’t use that to make public policy without science and without data.”

Cuomo also announced eight new pop-up vaccination sites at MTA station stops in the New York City, Long Island, and Mid-Hudson regions. The sites will serve up to 300 walk-ins per day on a first come, first served basis using the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The MTA will provide incentives to get vaccinated at the sites, including a free seven-day MetroCard or free round trip Long Island Rail Road or Metro-North ticket.

Finally, Cuomo announced the Nassau Coliseum will have a fully vaccinated fan section for the New York Islanders playoff games, which are anticipated to start on May 19. To end the Islanders’ last season at the Coliseum, half of the Coliseum will be used for vaccinated fans, spaced approximately three feet apart — with an unoccupied seat between each party.

Fans seated in these sections will have to provide proof of full COVID-19 immunization status through paper form, digital application, or the state’s Excelsior Pass. Young adults and children under the age of 16 who are not yet eligible for the vaccine may be seated with a vaccinated adult so long as they have received a recent negative COVID-19 test result. Appropriate social distancing, masks and other applicable health protocols will still apply throughout the arena.

Seniors gather for lunch

Albany County seniors, for the first time in months, gathered on Monday to share a meal at a county site in Watervliet.

“Our senior population has been isolated,” said McCoy, announcing the pilot program at his Monday morning press conference.

He said there are still seniors who won’t come out of their homes because they are afraid.

“We have to be getting back to some type of normalcy,” he said.

In normal times, the county runs 17 congregate meals sites, including one for the Hilltowns in Berne. Together, nearly 2,400 seniors participate.

The pilot program in Watervliet is for vaccinated seniors only and will run at 75 percent capacity.

“We’re going to see how the seniors feel, coming back together ...,” said McCoy. “These meal sites are critical to the mental and emotional well being of our older residents.”

Other sites will open on May 17, June 1, and Sept. 1, McCoy said.

“What a difference a year makes,” said Deb Riitano, commissioner for the county’s Department for Aging. “We were closing everything down. We tried to open it up again back in the summer and things went south very quickly. The meal sites needed to close again.”

The county also runs adult day-care programs, which “needed to move to virtual” during the pandemic shutdown, Riitano said.

“The seniors have suffered a lot with isolation and they’re going to go through a re-entry crisis because we all are,” Riitano concluded.

Visitors at last

McCoy noted this week that Shaker Place, the county’s nursing home, is finally, after more than a year, able to admit visitors.

The reunion with family and friends, he said, is “unbelievable for the residents that had such a tough year.”

He said that no Shaker Place resident had tested positive for COVID-19 since last summer and that the last positive test for a Shaker Place worker was four weeks ago.

“It’s very emotional,” McCoy said of seeing residents, who had been limited to visits through windows, embracing visitors as they reunite.

Nursing home residents — both nationally and in New York State — were the first to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

More county outreach

Albany County is continuing its vaccination outreach in several areas. A third public-service announcement was launched this week.

Whalen said she is heartened by the people walking into her department for vaccination. The program will continue daily from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 175 Green Street in Albany, she said. Anyone 16 or older can walk in.

Also, the county is providing transportation to any resident 60 or older, along with a caregiver. Anyone wishing this service may call 518-447-7198 to schedule transportation.

Department staff is willing and able to answer questions, Whalen said, so residents who are not sure about vaccination can come to the department during those times to speak to a public-health educator.

Whalen said it is important for people to educate themselves on the facts. 

“The facts are what we know from the studies that have been done and the evidence that has come out — and everything so far is very reassuring in terms of the safety and the efficacy of Pfizer and the Moderna vaccine,” said Whalen. “We know the J & J has been brought back into circulation. We are not currently offering J & J at the health department.”

The one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine was briefly paused in mid-April after a handful of women who had been vaccinated developed a rare clotting disorder.

Whalen said her department will probably receive doses of Johnson & Johnson in the “next couple of weeks.”

Whalen also said that local leaders and community-based organizations are important in getting residents to be vaccinated.

Individuals can make a difference, too, she said.

“Share the reasons you became vaccinated with your family and friends,” Whalen urged. “We really need multiple efforts for education.”

Whalen concluded, “there are so many good reasons to be vaccinated — protect you and your family.”

Newest numbers

On Wednesday, in a release, McCoy announced 18 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the county’s tally to 24,067.

Of the new cases, nine had close contact with someone infected with the disease and nine did not have clear sources of infection identified.

The five-day average for new daily positives decreased to 19.6 from 20.6. There are now 140 active cases in the county, down from 165 on Tuesday.

The number of Albany County residents under quarantine increased to 358 from 324. So far, 78,349 residents have completed quarantine. Of those, 23,927 had tested positive and recovered. That is an increase of 42 recoveries since Tuesday.

There was one new hospitalization overnight, and there are now 19 county residents hospitalized from the virus — a net decrease of two. There are currently six patients in intensive-care units, down one from on Tuesday.

The infection rate in Albany County, as of Tuesday, as a seven-day rolling average, is 1.0 percent, according to the state’s dashboard.

Statewide, the infection rate, also as of Tuesday, as a seven-day rolling average, is 1.3 percent.

According to the state’s vaccination tracker, 56.9 percent of Albany County residents have completed a vaccination series as of Wednesday evening.

Statewide, 40.0 percent of New Yorkers have completed a series.