Ulster County vaccinating seniots today ay SUNY Ulster
STONE RIDGE, N.Y. » Ulster County is administering coronavirus shots to senior citizens today at SUNY Ulster, the first time the college has been used for that purpose, though all the doses are spoken for.
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Assistant Deputy County Executive Daniel Torres said 1,200 shots are expected to be given between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. on SUNY Ulster’s Stone Ridge campus but that all the appointments are booked.
Torres said the college might be used for vaccinations in the future, supplementing the county’s two “point of dispensing” (POD) sites at Kingston and Ellenville
high schools.
The doses being administered today at SUNY Ulster are among the 7,040 shipped to Ulster County by the state this week — 3,340 to the Department of Health and 3,700 to pharmacies and other nongovernmental distribution sites.
Also Wednesday, state Sen. Michelle Hinchey, D-Saugerties, said both houses of the Legislature have passed a bill (S2588A) that guarantees all employees four hours of time off to receive COVID shots.
Bills in the same package promote career paths into health care and create health and safety standards for airborne infectious diseases in the workplace, Hinchey said.
“Workers are the backbone of New York’s economy, and our state needs to be a partner in protecting their safety and advancing
opportunities to get people back on the job,” the senator said in a statement. “From paid vaccination leave to shared-work benefit programs, the legislation we’ve advanced this week makes clear that our state is committed to improving workplace safety and benefits for all who are risking their health and well-being to keep our communities running.”
By the numbers
Ulster County on Wednesday reported that it has 1,509 active cases of COVID-19, an increase of 21 from the 1,488 reported Monday.
Ulster’s peak number of active cases was 2,622, on Jan. 30.
The county also reported one additional COVID-related death, bringing its total to 234 since the local outbreak began a year ago.
Ulster has had a total of 11,043 confirmed cases of the coronavirus since last March. Of those, there have been 9,300 recoveries.
The county reported Wednesday that there were 49 new diagnoses of COVID out of the most recent 930 test results received. That’s a positivity rate of 5.6%.
Dutchess County reported Wednesday that it had 1,058 active cases of COVID-19, down from the 1,119 it reported Tuesday.
The county also reported a jump in COVID-related hospitalizations, from 39 to 48, but no additional deaths. Dutchess has had 408 COVID-related deaths since last spring.
Dutchess has had a total of 22,457 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Of those, there have been 20,991 recoveries.
The county’s most recent seven-day average of positive test results is 4.25%.
In the schools
Newly reported cases of COVID-19 in area school districts are as follows, according to New York state.
• Kingston: One on-site high school student.
• Ellenville: One on-site and one off-site elementary school students, one off-site high schooler, and one offsite middle school student.
• Highland: One on-site middle schooler.
• Marlboro: Two on-site high school students and one on-site middle schooler.
• Rhinebeck: One on-site high school student.
• Wallkill: One on-site student at the Leptondale Elementary School and two on-site high school students.