BALLSTON SPA – After an effort to vaccinate homebound residents went awry last month, Saratoga County leadership announced on Wednesday that the county is building a list of residents who want the COVID-19 vaccination.
Saratoga County Board of Supervisors Chair Todd Kusnierz speaks at a coronavirus update press conference on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2020, at the Saratoga County Board room in Ballston Spa. Behind him, from left, is Wilton Supervisor John Lant, Clifton Park Supervisor Phil Barrett and Saratoga Springs Supervisor Tara Gaston.
Wendy Liberatore/Times Union
County Board of Supervisors Chairman Todd Kusnierz said that residents who want to be vaccinated can sign up on the county website. The confidential information, to which only the county health department will have access, will help the county identify who wants the vaccination. It will also allow the department to easily alert residents when vaccinations become available for them.
Speaking at a press conference at the Board of Supervisors meeting room, Saratoga Springs Supervisor Tara Gaston encouraged all residents to sign up.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
“We do want to make sure everyone has access and we can affirmatively reach out as we can,” Gaston said. “We are very happy to be able to put this out and alleviate the fears and anxiety for a lot of members of our community.”
Previously:
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
She said those who do not have access to technology can reach out to their municipality’s supervisor or senior center, both of which are ready to help residents sign up.
The county moved to ease the sign up process to avoid a repeat of an incident at the end of January. At that time, Gaston asked supervisors to identify eligible homebound seniors in their communities who could get one of 400 doses that were available. That led to accusations of "playing God" and an acrimonious meeting at which officials went into executive session, a likely violation of the open meetings law.
The county will also work to pass a local law to limit the fees that third-party food delivery services like Grubhub and Doordash can charge restaurants during a state of emergency and for 90 days after the emergency has been lifted. At such times, the fees will be capped at 15 percent for delivery service and 5 percent for listing the restaurant.
“Unfortunately, businesses like restaurants have been forced to operate under very difficult conditions,” said Clifton Park Supervisor Phil Barrett. “Capacity limits, closings, curfews, these are all terrible situations for their business, not of their own making. This is just one way to help restaurants stay viable.”
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
Public Health Commissioner Daniel Kuhles also released the county’s latest numbers that included, as of Tuesday, a 7-day rolling positivity rate of 2.2 percent.
“While the seven-day positivity rate has dropped substantially in just the last two weeks, it is imperative that we do not lower our guard and leave our communities and hospitals vulnerable to another surge in cases,” Kuhles said.
The county also reported that, thus far, 32,040 or 13.9 percent of county residents have received one dose of vaccine while 16,132 or 7 percent have received both doses.
