While Governor Andrew Cuomo was at Jones Beach on Long Island, pushing “a shot in the park” incentive, Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy on Monday offered another sports-related incentive for local youth to get vaccinated.

Stephanie Klein, Northern Rivers Family of Services, Albany

The county will run a COVID-19 vaccination clinic on May 29 at the Beaver Street entrance of the Times Union Center where anyone can get vaccinated — with the one-shot Johnson & Johnson — and also get a free ticket for a future game. A Vax Block Party will be held on the mezzanine with live entertainment and food and drinks for the fully vaccinated.

Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy said on Thursday that points of dispensing, or PODs, will be set up in Albany on Saturday and in Ravena on Wednesday. “We know bringing small PODs directly to residents in their own neighborhoods is the best way to ensure trust and get to herd immunity, and we’re moving in the right direction,” McCoy said.

New York State’s guidance, just like the CDC guidance, is still requiring masks and social distancing in schools serving pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade students; on public transit, in homeless shelters, in correctional facilities, in nursing homes, and in health-care settings. Unvaccinated individuals, under both CDC and state guidance, must wear masks in all public settings.

Albany County’s vaccination rate has slowed. “It’s now an increase by 2 percent each week. In the beginning, we were literally at 4 percent or more … We’re hitting that wall. We need to get more people vaccinated,” said Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy.

Susan Mosher, Guilderland

The pandemic has made clear that accurate information can be a matter of life and death.