File 25, Volume 426

The Albany County Sheriff’s Office EMS Division and local volunteer healthcare professionals will be administering the COVID-19 vaccine to Albany County residents through a pilot drive-through vaccination point-of-dispensing (POD) program.

Sheriff Craig Apple (pictured) reached out to the Governor’s Office and the State Department of Health to see if his office could help administer the COVID-19 vaccine locally. “We’re completely autonomous and now we can start pumping out that vaccine. Within 36 hours, we had our POD, we had our own link to the NAICS number which is where the data has to go. We are going to be drop shipped our own vaccine,” said Sheriff Apple.

The Albany County Sheriff’s office has already received 200 doses of the vaccine, which are all booked for first responders and front-line workers. The drive-through vaccination POD program will help many residents in the rural parts of Albany County.

Sheriff Apple’s goal is to help everyone across the county. “I don’t care where you’re from, if you fit within the categories call us, and we’ll get you the shot. I am not going to target and say just this area; I want to get as many vaccinations out there as possible,” noted Sheriff Apple.