COVID-19 tests on sale at airport
Albany International Airport started offering COVID-19 testing kits for sale to the general public on Wednesday at the airport in Colonie. The COVID-19 saliva-based, PCR test kits can be purchased near baggage claim on the first floor from Quadrant Biosciences. The price of each test is $65 which includes packaging and shipping. The airport partnered with Upstate Medical University and Quadrant Biosciences, who produced the test.
A media campaign featuring the faces and voices of 15 community leaders from around the Capital Region launched Wednesday across multiple media platforms with a message: “Don’t hesitate, vaccinate.”
The campaign — underwritten by local health care, nonprofit and business organizations — asks people to help end the COVID -19 pandemic by getting vaccinated when they have the chance.
“We’ve been apart too long,” one of the television ads opens. “It’s time to once again open our arms to family, friends and neighbors. Thankfully, a new day is dawning because together we can end the pandemic. The COVID -19 vaccine will be free and available to everyone in the Capital Region. With it we can live without fear again. Please when it’s your turn don’t hesitate, vaccinate.”
The message is alternately delivered by key voices from the region, including Dr. Elizabeth Whalen, Albany County's health commissioner; Micky Jimenez, regional director of Capital District Latinos; Dr. Dennis Mckenna, president and CEO of Albany Medical Center; Brenda Robinson, CEO and founder of the Black Nurses Coalition; and
Mary Gooden, president of the Glens Falls NAACP, among others.
The campaign goes on to reiterate safety information about the vaccine and aims to dispel fears that the vaccine can give recipients COVID -19.
“The campaign’s goal is to be honest and transparent,” said Robinson, who has been pounding the pavement in Albany’s underserved neighborhoods helping to sign people up for the vaccine. “We are trying to build trust across all communities in our region and emphasize the importance of getting the COVID -19 vaccine to protect yourself and your loved ones.”
Mckenna told the Times Union last week that the media campaign represents “the next phase” of the region’s vaccine rollout, which began last December with health care workers and will open up to everyone over the age of 16 starting next week.
“You’ll see many faces from the Capital Region representing many different demographic areas and many different populations encouraging people to get the vaccine,” he said. “And I think this is gonna be a
significant step forward for us… we hope that it will really push those who, for whatever reason, have chosen not to get the vaccine. Otherwise we’re gonna be at a moment where we’re gonna have more vaccine than we have people looking for spots.”
Other voices in the campaign include Christopher Del Vecchio, president and CEO of MVP Health Care; John Bennett, president and CEO of CDPHP; Odo Butler, past president of the Schenectady NAACP; Joanne Mcdonough, Malta Med medical director,
Saratoga Hospital; Ronald Pope, vice president of medical services at Columbia Memorial; Bill Hart, vice president of U.S. business operations, Irving Tissue; Peter Gannon, president and CEO, United Way of the Greater Capital Region; J. David Brown, president and CEO, Capital District YMCA; and Matt Pender, primary care provider, Cambridge Medical Center Glens Falls Hospital. The ads can be viewed on Capitalregionvax.org. The site also includes a list of local vaccine clinics and information about both the vaccine and how to volunteer at a local clinic.