ALBANY – Albany County is announcing open appointments at a COVID-19 vaccination clinic scheduled for Saturday at the Times Union Center in Albany.
The county launched a registration link for the clinic designed to serve individuals aged 65 and over at 5 pm on Thursday. But by late Friday morning, more than 1,300 seats were still available – a sign that seniors may still be struggling to navigate online scheduling systems or that supply is finally catching up with demand.
“Typically, when we place a POD link, it fills up in about five to 10 minutes,” said county health commissioner, Dr. Elizabeth Whalen, on Friday. “We launched this link yesterday and we still have a lot of vacancies. Therefore, we hope that they will be filled and that, if we still have the capacity, we will be able to increase the reach of this clinic because we know the most important mission is to be able to distribute the vaccine and we are ready and prepared for that ”.
The county sent a text message on Friday afternoon to people who had pre-registered for vaccines, to alert them to the availability of places at Saturday’s clinic. By 6pm, the number of open places dropped to 500. On Friday night, county spokeswoman Mary Rozak said the county had received approval to expand eligibility for the clinic for those with certain health conditions. , also.
“We had some openings and the goal is to shoot, so we got the approval to make that change,” she said.
Previously, the county had been allowed to vaccinate only essential workers and, more recently, people with underlying health problems. Last Friday, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signaled that this would change, with county health departments soon being able to vaccinate the 65-year-old crowd.
Albany County authorities on Friday urged the public to help friends and relatives sign up for vaccines, if they can.
“If you know someone who has not yet been vaccinated, register him,” said Albany County Legislature President Andrew Joyce. “Do what you can to register them, put them in the right place to register them, vaccinate them.”
Information on how to sign up for Saturday’s clinic is available on the county’s website. Volunteers will administer the first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at the clinic, and only people who can return for a second dose on Saturday, March 27, are encouraged to apply. Individuals will need to bring an identity document to verify their age.
The clinic will be open from 10 am to 3:30 pm at the Times Union Center, located at 51 S. Pearl St. Free parking is available in the Times Union Center garage at 9 Wendell St. or at the LAZ Pearl Street Parking Garage at 59 Beaver St. are leaving someone should drop him off at the main entrance to the Times Union Center.
Coronavirus updates
Albany County confirmed on Friday that another resident died of complications from COVID-19.
County executive Dan McCoy said the victim was a man in his 80s. It is now known that a total of 359 county residents died from the disease.
The county also confirmed 91 new cases of coronavirus overnight, which raised its seven-day moving average to 64.
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Another seven residents were hospitalized with the virus overnight, and net hospitalizations grew five overnight to 40.