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.
Staff at the state vaccination site at Crossgates Mall in Guilderland said traffic picked up immediately on Monday.

People who received the Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccine are not currently eligible for a booster dose.

The booster debate during Albany County’s 81st week of coping with the coronavirus felt rather like watching a ping-pong match.

The Food and Drug Administration last Wednesday issued its guidance for a more limited use of booster shots than the Biden administration had called for in mid-August. Joe Biden had made the case for all Americans vaccinated against COVID-19 to get a booster shot.

The FDA said the shots should be given to people 65 and older, to adults younger than that if they were at high risk for COVID-19 or if they had jobs that exposed them to the virus.

Then last Thursday evening, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that Pfizer-BioNTech booster shots should be given to people 65 and older, to nursing home residents, and to adults with underlying health conditions.

However, the CDC committee differed from the FDA, rejecting, in a split vote, giving booster shots to frontline health workers, first responders, nursing-home staff, teachers, and other essential workers.

Earlier on Thursday, at an event in New York City, Hochul conceded there has been “conflicting information coming out of the federal government and it keeps changing.”

She went on, “Everyone’s doing the best they can. Their circumstances are evolving. We don't have a playbook on how to deal with the global pandemic, but I do trust the CDC in this administration. I trust the FDA and we’ll also have our other additional layer of scrutiny, but this will not delay us getting those boosters out to people.”

She also said, “We know how to set up the sites. Lot of employers are making it available onsite. We know that the pharmacies are heavily engaged. We know we’re going to be going again into nursing homes. So we are prepared … There's already 8,000 people ready to roll for our booster shots.”

Then on Friday night, Rochelle Walensky, the CDC director, 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.

Walensky’s decision put the CDC in line with the FDA’s casting of a wider net.

She said, in releasing the decision, “I believe we can best serve the nation’s public health needs by providing booster doses for the elderly, those in long-term care facilities, people with underlying medical conditions, and for adults at high risk of disease from occupational and institutional exposures to COVID-19.”

Walensky added, “We will address, with the same sense of urgency, recommendations for the Moderna and J&J vaccines as soon as those data are available.”

On Monday, the New York State Clinical Advisory Task Force endorsed Friday’s statement from Walensky, and the roll-out began.

Four groups of New Yorkers are now eligible for their COVID-19 booster dose.

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.

 Free booster doses are already widely available statewide at state-run mass vaccination sites and at pharmacies, local health departments, clinics, and Federally Qualified Health Centers.

The state has launched a new website with dedicated information about booster doses, additional doses, and eligibility.

Hochul last week announced $65 million in funding to county health departments to support the distribution of booster doses. Hochul also authorized emergency medical technicians to administer the COVID-19 vaccine.

All New York State mass vaccination sites are now open to booster-eligible New Yorkers. To schedule an appointment at a state-run mass vaccination site, New Yorkers can visit the Am I Eligible page or call 1-833-NYS-4-VAX.

People may also contact their local health department, pharmacy, or doctor to schedule appointments where vaccines are available. New Yorkers may also visit vaccines.gov, text their ZIP code to 438829, or call 1-800-232-0233 to find locations near them.

Research: Moderna is the most effective

Separately, recent studies have shown that there is a difference in efficacy with the two messenger RNA vaccinations: Moderna is more effective than Pfizer-BioNTech.

The New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday published a study showing Moderna was 96.3 percent effective compared to effectiveness of 88.8 percent for Pfizer-BioNTech. The study involved about 5,000 health-care workers in 25 states.

The study also said that both vaccines “were highly effective under real-world conditions in preventing symptomatic Covid-19 in health care personnel, including those at risk for severe Covid-19 and those in racial and ethnic groups that have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic.”

On Friday, the CDC published a study comparing the effectiveness of all three vaccines in preventing COVID-19 hospitalizations in adults in the United States who were not immunocompromised.

From March 11 to Aug. 15, 2021, Moderna’s effectiveness was highest at 93 percent followed by Pfizer-BioNTech at 88 percent, and then by Johnson & Johnson at 71 percent.

The study also said, “Although these real-world data suggest some variation in levels of protection by vaccine, all FDA-approved or authorized COVID-19 vaccines provide substantial protection against COVID-19 hospitalization.”

Three more deaths

Albany County suffered three more COVID-19 deaths this week: A man in his sixties died on Thursday, a man in his seventies died on Sunday, and a person in their thirties died on Tuesday.

This brings Albany County’s COVID-19 death toll to 403.

Between Sept. 19 and 25, a total of 529 new COVID-19 infections were identified by the Albany County Health Department, according to a Tuesday release from Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy. Of those analyzed, 236 were fully vaccinated; 252 were not; and, for 41 cases, the vaccination status was unknown or the individual declined to respond.

“We continue to see the majority of those who are hospitalized with COVID are unvaccinated,” said McCoy in the release. “Of the 32 residents in the hospital right now, 56.2 percent have not gotten a single shot, 3.1 percent are partially vaccinated, and 40.6 percent are fully vaccinated.

“And, when you look at the combined data over the last month of our reporting, nearly 66 percent of all hospitalizations were unvaccinated individuals and 31 percent were fully vaccinated.

“The data is clear — the more people that get the shot, the fewer the people that will get sent to the hospital with potentially life-threatening complications.”

According to the state’s vaccine tracker, 71.4 percent of Albany County’s 307,117 residents have received at least a first dose and 65.5 percent are fully vaccinated; 82.4 percent of county residents 18 or older have received at least one dose.

In his Wednesday morning release, McCoy reported 119 new cases of COVID-19 with  547 active cases in the county, up from 503 on Tuesday.

The number of Albany County residents under quarantine increased to 799 from 768.

Albany County’s most recent seven-day average of percent positive rates is now up to 4.0 percent.

There were five new hospitalizations since Tuesday, and there are still a total of 32 county residents hospitalized with the virus. There are now 10 patients in intensive-care units, a net increase of one.

COVID-19 Report card

The state relaunched its COVID-19 Report Card.

So far this school year, as of Sept. 27, Guilderland schools have had a total of 21 cases: 19 students and two staff members.

Farnsworth Middle School had the most cases, with seven students; Guilderland High School had a total of four cases: three students and one staff member.

Guilderland Elementary had two students and one staff member test positive, Lynnwood had four students, Westmere had two students, and Pine Bush Elementary had one student test positive. So far, Altamont Elementary has had no cases.

As of Sept. 27, all seven cases at Voorheesville have been of students: five at the elementary school and two at the middle school.

At Berne-Knox-Westerlo, as of Sept. 27, ten people have tested positive: eight students, one teacher, and one staff member.

At the secondary school, four students, one teacher, and one staff member have tested positive. At the elementary school, four students have tested positive for COVID-19.

Vax for athletes

The Guilderland School Board followed CDC guidance to require athletes in high-risk sports who are 16 or older to be vaccinated. The directive may change when Albany County is no longer labeled as having a high level of community transmission.

According to the CDC guidelines and the Health and Safety Guide issued by theState Education Department, high-risk sports and extracurricular activities should be virtual or canceled in areas of high community transmission unless all participants are fully vaccinated.

For the fall season underway, this applies to football, cheerleading, and volleyball. High-risk winter sports are wrestling, basketball, competitive cheer, and ice hockey. 

Unvaccinated athletes in high-risk sports who are not yet 16 must be screened weekly for COVID-19.

Medical exemptions may be applied for by having a state-licensed doctor complete the New York State Department of Health form.

Clean Green Schools

Last Thursday, Hochul allocated $59 million for the new Clean Green Schools initiative, which aims to advance clean energy and energy-efficiency solutions to improve indoor air quality and reduce emissions for more than 500 public and private Pre-K-12 schools in disadvantaged communities across the state.

As part of the program, the state will convene education leaders this fall, including school superintendents, administrators, and educators, to inform the initiative launching in early 2022 to address climate justice issues and create improved, healthier learning environments for students.

The state has a goal of an 85 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.

Administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the Clean Green Schools initiative will provide technical, financial, and staff support to help schools in underserved areas evaluate, plan for, and implement energy efficient and clean heating and cooling projects to benefit the most vulnerable New Yorkers.

Fake vax cards

The state’s Division of Consumer Protection on Thursday warned New Yorkers about the risks of using or buying fake COVID-19 vaccination cards.

As more and more places are requiring proof of vaccination, scammers are taking advantage of this opportunity by selling fake verification tools including fake cards, certificates, test results or even doctors’ notes, the division said in a release, adding, “New Yorkers should be aware that buying fake vaccine cards, making their own or filling the blanks with false information is illegal and could land them in jail.”

New Yorkers are urged to report vaccine-related fraud by calling 833-VAX-SCAM (833-829-7226) or emailing STOPVAXFRAUD@health.ny.gov.

Football teams in on vax action

Also this week, Hochul announced an integrated media and vaccine incentive program in partnership with all three New York professional football teams to support vaccinations among currently unvaccinated New Yorkers.

The marketing effort and #VaxandWin Football Sweepstakes includes the Buffalo Bills, the New York Giants, and the New York Jets.

The campaign includes vaccine encouragement videos and radio segments with alumni players from each team who have each received the COVID-19 vaccine themselves as well as messaging across each team’s media channels including television, radio in English and Spanish through the New York Giants, podcast, digital, and social media.