No deaths, 68 new cases reported in Albany County
Vaccination efforts contribute to decline in COVID infections
Albany County reported 68 new cases of coronavirus overnight, continuing its steady drop in caseloads since midjanuary.
There were no new deaths since Friday, but three more people were hospitalized, bringing the total number of hospitalizations to 37, County Executive Dan Mccoy said Saturday. Four people remain in the intensive care unit, he said.
The steady decline in cases comes as the county continues its efforts to vaccinate residents.
“Each day, we move one step closer to getting everyone vaccinated as we hold additional clinics and expand our partnerships,” Mccoy said.
Albany County Health Commissioner Dr. Elizabeth Whalen on Friday said the county was prepared to administer more vaccines this week than in all previous weeks combined. The county, which had been receiving about 1,400 doses a week, received more than 8,000 doses this week and reallocated some to neighboring Rensselaer and Schenectady counties.
The distribution of vaccines in Albany County, however, has disproportionately left out communities of color, specifically Black residents, who make up around 14 percent of the population but only 7 percent of those in the county with one vaccine dose, state data show.
In other developments:
Care Design New York, an organization that assists people with intellectual or developmental disabilities, announced that about 250 people in the Capital Region who are intellectually or developmentally disabled received a vaccine on Saturday. People with intellectual disabilities are considered a high-risk group for COVID -19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“For these reasons, it is critical that people with disabilities have access to the COVID -19 vaccine,” Care Design New York said in its announcement.
Across the state, COVID-19 hospitalizations dropped below 5,000 for the first time since Dec. 8, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s office said Saturday. There were 78 deaths.