Need a vaccine? Slots available this week
Capital Region providers promoting appointments
Appointments to get a COVID-19 vaccine are opening up across the Capital Region as supply to the area increases.
A number of local providers were advertising open slots Tuesday.
The mass vaccination site at the University at Albany was showing available appointments through the end of May as of Tuesday evening. The site at the Washington Avenue Armory in Albany — which is only open to eligible Albany, Rensselaer and Schenectady county residents — was showing open appointments through April 26.
Albany County had available slots for an upcoming clinic at the Times Union Center in Albany as of early Tuesday evening. The clinic is scheduled for Wednesday from 2 to 5 p.m. and only those who are able to return for a second dose on April 7 were advised to sign up.
Capital Region Pharmacy Services announced Tuesday it had available vaccine slots for clinics this coming Wednesday and Thursday. As of Tuesday evening, its website was still showing available slots for those days. The clinics are for people age 60 and older and faculty and staff of P-12 schools, including contractors and people working in child care. Individuals can book an appointment through its website, capitalregionalrx.com.
Columbia County’s Department of Health was advertising open slots Tuesday for clinics this coming Thursday and Friday. Eligible individuals include essential workers, people age 60 and older, and people with certain health conditions. Signup links are available through its
Facebook page.
Meanwhile, Warren County is alerting homebound residents who want a vaccine to have their physician or medical provider contact its Health Services office at 518-761-6580 to verify that a home visit is needed. Caregivers for the homebound will be eligible for in-home vaccination as well under certain circumstances, it said.
“We believe this simple step to identify those in need will help best use our resources,” County Health Services Director Ginelle Jones said.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s office reported Tuesday an additional 5,524 people receiving at least one dose of vaccine in the Capital Region in the previous 24 hours and 3,336 completing their vaccination series. As of Tuesday, 13.6 percent of the regional population had completed their vaccination series and 27.2 percent had received at least one dose.
Queensbury vaccination site will need volunteers as well as paid staff
Warren County officials are advertising volunteer and paid staff opportunities at a new mass vaccination site that will be opening soon in Queensbury.
The state has not said when the site at 50 Gurney Lane will open, but local officials say they anticipate it opening “in the coming days” and say help will be needed to keep it running at full speed.
“This site will be a long-term operation, and with that there will be both paid and volunteer opportunities for our community members and organizations to continue giving back to our region in the way that truly makes us ‘Hometown, USA’” said Rachel Seeber, chair of the Warren County Board of Supervisors.
Residents of the area who are interested in helping out at the site have a few options:
A Interested volunteers can register is at: https://apps.health.ny.gov/pub/servny/
A College, graduate or post-graduate students interested in helping can sign up at: https://apps.health.ny.gov/public/studentvolunteer/instructions .
Individuals seeking temporary paid work at the site, including both clinical and nonclinical work, can sign up at https://health.ny.gov/employment/index.htm .
Coronavirus update
Another Capital Region resident has died due to complications from COVID -19. Rensselaer County officials said the victim was an 84-year-old Brunswick man who had been released from the hospital to hospice.
Local hospitals reported treating 98 coronavirus patients on Monday, down from 104 the day before.
Meanwhile, confirmed cases of the virus are holding steady in the region, which was averaging 188 cases a day as of Monday, down slightly from 190 the day before. The share of people testing positive for the virus in the region ticked down slightly from 1.8 percent on Sunday to 1.7 percent as of Monday.