Wednesday
The Tompkins County Health Department passed on Tuesday the CDC’s recent recommendation to get a booster against COVID-19 variants, available through healthcare providers and pharmacies.
The latest booster boosters add Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 spike protein components to the current vaccine composition. That targets the new variants, which are more transmissable. An updated booster will increase protection against those variants, the department reports.
You are eligible to receive an updated booster dose at least two months following your last vaccination. To find out if you are eligible for a booster dose, use the CDC’s interactive, online Booster Tool.
“The updated booster will provide enhanced protection against the current strains of variants, which is especially important as we approach flu season," Tompkins Public Health Director Frank Kruppa said. "We encourage everyone who is eligible and able to get vaccinated and stay up to date on their vaccinations.”
The booster doses will be primarily available at pharmacies and healthcare providers. Find one at vaccines.gov or dial 2-1-1 (1-877-211-8667) for assistance. Bring your vaccination card.
The county's Friday immunization clinics will also offer the booster by appointment.
Thursday
TCAT announced Wednesday that riders no longer need to wear masks, required on public transportation for more than two years.
“Our drivers and front-line employees did a remarkable job with mask compliance, which hasn’t always been easy when you consider that some spend eight to 10 or more hours in the driver’s seat,” said TCAT Assistant General Manager Mike Smith. “I thank our passengers too for their cooperation and masking up throughout this lengthy pandemic season. And of course, any rider still has the option to wear a mask according to their personal preferences.”
TCAT's announcement follows a tweet from Gov. Kathy Hochul, lifting the mask mandate on public transportation.
“Starting today, masks will be optional in some places where they had previously been required, including on mass transit,” Hochul tweeted.
However, she added, masking requirements remain in effect for state-regulated health-care facilities and clinical settings.
Friday
The city will host a New Year's Eve celebration this year, creating a new version of an event canceled for the past two years during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The decision drew objections from Tim Bennett, owner of Fun Fliks and Cortland Voice, who bought the rights to host the rights to similar event called First Light.
At Tuesday's city Common Council meeting, the council unanimously approved a New Year's Eve event called Midnight on Main and a new version of a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony in Courthouse Park called Visions of Christmas.
Mayor Scott Steve said he proposed the events to ensure that it took place and he questioned whether three annual events purchased by Bennett could have taken place. Steve noted other communities have returned to public events in the past year, including those on New Year's Eve.
"All I care about is I want to make sure this event happens," Steve said Thursday. "It is important that it happens downtown. I want to make it a big, fun event."
Bennett in late 2019 won a bidding process by the Cortland Downtown Partnership to host three events — First Light, Chill-A-Bration and Taste of Downtown. Bennett had the First Light event at the end of 2019 and Chill-A-Bration in 2020 but no other events since the pandemic began.
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After two years of schooling marred by the coronavirus pandemic, SUNY Cortland is experiencing a record-breaking fall semester.
“We've had a pretty historic freshman class. It's the biggest class we've had in 33 years,” said Frederic Pierce, SUNY Cortland’s director of communications. And maybe longer. “That's as far as records go back.”
Combined undergraduate and graduate enrollment is up nearly 200 students from last year. “Last year we had 6,658. This year was about 6,800. At this time of year, the numbers are a little fluid,” Pierce said. Some students leave and others arrive late, so the numbers regularly change. He expects that number to increase, however.
That’s a reversal, of sorts, from national trends. The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center reported last spring that college enrollment dropped last spring to 16.2 million, down 4.7%, or 662,000 students, from the spring semester of 2021. Since the pandemic began, undergraduate enrollment nationwide was down 9.4%, or 1.4 million students.
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After a week as a high risk and a recommendation to wear a mask in all indoor public places, Chenango County returned to a low risk for coronavirus, the CDC reported Thursday.
However, Madison County was elevated to a medium risk as Cortland and Tompkins counties remained a low risk; Cayuga County remained a medium risk.
Cortland County had 67 new cases of COVID-19 between Sept. 1 and Wednesday, giving it a rate of 140.81 cases per 100,000 people, the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.
