Author: Saratoga TODAY

SARATOGA SPRINGS – A Harvard Scientist and 2002 graduate of Saratoga Springs High School has been making headlines introducing the idea of antigen tests for at-home almost daily use. 

Michael Mina, of Greenfield Center, is an assistant professor of epidemiology at both Harvard Medical School and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He argues the do-it-yourself test can be as effective as a vaccine at interrupting COVID-19’s transmission. 

“They can effectively be akin to a vaccine that was introduced tomorrow,” Mina said to the Harvard Gazette last week. “We keep trying to use these diagnostic tools that just tell us what’s going on [with an individual] once every couple of months when they may be tested. It’s doing nothing to stop transmission chains.”

A rapid antigen test is a diagnostic test that detects the presence or absence of an antigen and can be produced for less than one dollar. Although they’re not as accurate as current diagnostic tests, Mina said they are effective at detecting virus when a person is most infectious. 

“COVID tests can actually be put onto a piece of paper, very much like a pregnancy test. In fact, it’s almost exactly like a pregnancy test. But instead of looking for the hormones that tell if somebody is pregnant, it looks for the virus proteins that are part of [SARS-CoV-2] code to virus,” Mina said in a radio interview with NPR.

He added: “when we’re thinking about this virus and the control mechanisms that we have to deploy to be able to contain the virus at the community level, then controlling spread of the virus is priority number one. You want to stop people from spreading it to others. And the only way to really do that — we have masks and we have social distancing, and we’ve already shut down the economy. And these are extremely important pieces to really deal with the outbreak as it’s emerging and to continue going forward. But we found that it’s actually quite difficult to get everyone to wear masks and social distance.”

According to the Harvard Gazette, the current tracing and testing strategy uses a high-accuracy, laboratory-processed test aimed at detecting individual infections. However, the high cost and slow turnaround time of the test makes it difficult to achieve the broader goal of stopping transmission of the virus. Mina estimated that the nation’s current testing strategy probably catches less than three-percent of cases early enough to affect whether a person transmits the virus. But as long as those testing positive stay home, a cheap, at-home testing regimen has the potential to provide a kind of artificial herd immunity, interrupting enough transmission nationwide to cause the pandemic to stall.

On how rapid testing would help normalize life during the pandemic Mina told NPR: “the way that this would work is that instead of a vaccine which uses your immune system to effectively stop you from transmitting to other people by preventing you from really getting a high viral load, these tests can fill in that gap by giving you knowledge about your status.”

Because of COVID-19, New York is experiencing a critical shortage of poll workers. Historically, 55 percent of all New York’s poll workers are over the age of 60, making them especially vulnerable to the pandemic. This has resulted in a significant need for poll workers who are willing and able to assist with the administration of in-person voting during the Nov. 3 general election.

Poll workers will be needed during Early Voting, Oct. 24 to Nov. 1, and on Election Day, Nov. 3.

Poll workers get paid for training and each day they work. 

Tasks include: Prepare the polling place for voting; Set up the voting equipment; Sign-in and process voters; Enforce social distancing; Demonstrate voting procedures to the voters; Sanitize voting equipment; Close the polling place; Canvass and report the results; Assist voter if requested.

Eligibility:  Must be a New York State registered voter. Poll workers will be assigned within the county where they live. To apply to be a poll worker, fill out the form at: www.elections.ny.gov/BecomePollworkerForm.html. 

TO REGISTER TO VOTE FOR THE FIRST TIME

To register to vote for the first time, or to make any changes to your voter record, including your party affiliation, complete and submit a voter registration form.  This may be downloaded at: www.saratogacountyny.gov/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Voter-Registration-Form.pdf. 

Forms must either be dropped off in-person or mailed to: Saratoga County Board of Elections, 50 W. High St, Ballston Spa, NY 12020

The deadline to register to vote for the 2020 General Election is Oct. 9. The deadline to change your address for the 2020 General Election is Oct. 14.

EARLY VOTING IN SARATOGA COUNTY

There are three locations in Saratoga County where early voting is accepted. Those locations are in Clifton Park, Wilton, and at the Board of Elections in Ballston Spa. All voters may vote at any poll site. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Early Voting Period is Oct. 24 – Nov. 1.

SECURING AN ABSENTEE BALLOT

ALBANY — Last week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed into law sweeping election reforms that will make it easier for New Yorkers to vote and be counted in November. The three-part package includes new measures allowing absentee ballot applications to be submitted to the Board of Elections immediately, expanding the necessary protections to allow a voter to get an absentee ballot due to risk or fear of illness including COVID-19 and ensuring all absentee ballots postmarked on or before Election Day or received by the Board of Elections without a postmark on the day after the Election will be counted.

Qualifications to Vote by Absentee Ballot 
• Absent from your county on Election Day.
• Unable to appear at the polls due to temporary or permanent illness or disability (temporary illness includes being unable to appear due to risk of contracting or spreading a communicable disease like COVID-19).
• Unable to appear because you are the primary care giver of one or more individuals who are ill or physically disabled.
• A resident or patient of a Veterans Health Administration Hospital.
• Detained in jail awaiting Grand Jury action or confined in prison after conviction for an offense other than a felony.

How to secure an absentee ballot 

You must apply online, postmark, email or fax a completed application or letter request for the General Election Absentee ballot no later than Oct. 27. You may apply in-person up to Nov. 2. You may file an application at any time before the deadlines, but ballots will be mailed out beginning on or about Sept. 18.

NOTE: Despite the posted deadlines the post office has advised that they cannot guarantee timely delivery of ballots applied for less than 15 days before an election.

Upon completion, applications must be mailed to your county board no later than the seventh day before the election or delivered in person no later than the day before the election. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. 

The Saratoga County Board of Elections is located at 50 W. High St, Ballston Spa, NY 12020. 

Absentee ballot information and downloads may be viewed at: www.elections.ny.gov/INDEX.html. Click on the left-hand menu item that reads: Absentee Voting.