ALBANY — Schenectady County has achieved the second-highest adult COVID vaccination rate in the state: 71.3% as of Monday morning.
The county also has one of New York’s highest all-ages vaccination rates, and local health officials have credited partnerships with community groups that have spread the message to reach more people than the county itself might if working alone.
The adult vaccination rate is a clearer measure of the effectiveness of a vaccine campaign because the overall rate includes children from birth to age 15, who currently are not eligible to receive COVID vaccine.
The Pfizer vaccine can be administered to 16- and 17-year-olds but Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are not authorized from anyone under age 18. Federal regulators are now considering authorizing the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 12 to 15.
Elsewhere in the Capital Region and Mohawk Valley, the county level vaccination rate for residents age 18 and older is:
- Albany 67.7%
- Fulton 45.2%
- Montgomery 59.2%
- Rensselaer 61.7%
- Saratoga 68.1%
- Schoharie 48.1%
- Warren 68.6%
- Washington 54.2%
The state’s highest adult vaccination rate is 73.1% in Hamilton County, the lowest is 39.7% in Allegany County. The two counties also have the highest and lowest overall vaccination rates in the state.
Nationwide, the rate of vaccination has slowed sharply in the last three weeks, from a peak seven-day rolling average of 3.28 million per day on April 11 to 1.99 million on May 5.
In New York, 60.2% of the adult population is at least partially vaccinated against COVID. The state is 10th among all 50 states on this metric and first among large-population states; the national average is 58.2%.
New York has been trying different strategies to get vaccine into more people’s arms.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday announced a trial program of popup vaccination sites at subway and commuter rail stations in New York City, using the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine in an attempt to reach the population of New Yorkers who are willing to be vaccinated — but only if it’s convenient.
(Added bonus: they’ll get free rides on the train if they take the shot at these popups.)
The state also has ended residency requirements: travelers can now stop in at a state-run vaccination site in New York and get a dose.
And Cuomo called for a law banning discrimination against those who have been vaccinated, which he said “is almost inexplicable to me. … We can’t be in a situation where we’re full-throated encouraging people to get a vaccine and then have people saying, ‘if you get a vaccine, you can’t participate in this activity.’”
Categories: -News-, Schenectady County
