Tech:NYC Digest: April 19

Tech:NYC Digest: April 19

April 19, 2021 • Estimated Reading Time: 11 minutes

Monday, April 19, 2021As the vaccination rollout progresses and NYC continues to respond to the pandemic, this digest focuses on the resources that help you make decisions about your businesses and your lives as New Yorkers.Was this digest forwarded to you? Subscribe here.

The latest: All adults eligible for vaccinations nationwide, majority have at least one dose; Fauci foresees FDA decision on J&J by Friday; museums, zoos, theaters and sporting venues to increase capacity soon; Facebook follows Twitter and Microsoft in letting staff apply for permanent remote work assignments post-pandemic.By the Numbers:

  • New York State: 1,989,268 (+4,339)

  • New York City: 894,379 (+2,104)

  • Statewide Fatalities: 41,530 (+44)

  • NYC Positivity Rates: 

    • NYS reports: 3.1 percent (no change)

    • NYC reports: 4.9 percent (no change)

  • Vaccine Progress:

    • NYS first doses administered: 8,326,432 

    • NYC first doses administered: 3,139,187

General Updates:

  • Some good news to start the week off: As of today, all adults in every state, plus Washington, DC and Puerto Rico, are eligible to receive the vaccine. Even better news is that half of all adults — 131 million Americans — already have at least one dose. (New York Times)

    • With near universal eligibility, Pres. Biden launched a massive media blitz today to encourage getting the vaccine — something akin to a national “get out the vote” effort being supported by social media platforms, major TV networks, and more. (Axios)

  • The US has now administered 200 million doses of the vaccine, just 39 days after Pres. Biden doubled his goal from 100 million to reach that number in his first 100 days in office. (Bloomberg) 

    • He’s now turning more attention to a primary reason case counts remain high in some places, despite the vaccine: variants. The White House has outlined a new $2 billion plan to dramatically increase national genetic sequencing efforts to identify variant strain threats before transmission becomes too widespread. (New York Times)

  • But the encouraging news at home stands in contrast to much of the rest of the world: the global COVID death toll has surpassed three million, equivalent to losing the populations of Berlin or Chicago. (New York Times) The EU is likely to completely drop the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, dealing a major blow to several countries’ supply. (Bloomberg) And India is experiencing record case numbers and a vaccine shortage, even as it remains the largest vaccine producer worldwide. (Vox)

  • Dr. Fauci said a decision on resuming the administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine could come as early as Friday, and he expects it will likely return with a warning label and restrictions on what age groups are recommended to receive it. (New York Magazine) Meanwhile, Moderna announced plans to have a third vaccine booster shot ready by the fall, with the specific goal of providing additional protection against variant strains of the coronavirus. (CBS News)

The latest results: New York’s vaccine rollout has been progressing at a quick pace, but for the first time, appointments slots aren’t being immediately claimed. The shift is sending a signal that demand is slowing and could impact when (or if) the city reaches a vaccination rate of 75 percent, the “herd immunity” threshold for declaring the pandemic over. When do you think NYC will reach herd immunity?  

Today's poll

: The MTA recently saw the highest ridership numbers during the pandemic, with more than

in a day. At the same time, the agency has released survey data showing an overwhelming majority of New Yorkers plan to work from home more often post-pandemic — and

. How often are you now taking the subway?

(This is a recurring question, responses help Tech:NYC track trends over time.)

  • *|SURVEY: Daily|*

  • *|SURVEY: One or more times weekly|*

  • *|SURVEY: One or more times monthly|*

  • *|SURVEY: Sporadically|*

  • *|SURVEY: I haven't returned to the subway|*

  • Some new reopening dates are coming up (NBC New York):

    • Beginning Monday, April 26th, museums and zoos can expand maximum capacity limits to 50 percent, and movie theaters can expand to 33 percent capacity.

    • Beginning May 19th, sports arenas and other large stadium venues can expand to 25 percent capacity.

  • With vaccine appointments more readily available, NYC residents aged 50 years or older (plus one family member or caregiver accompanying them) can now walk into city-run sites and get the shot without an appointment. See the list of those sites here.

  • As a part of this year’s budget plan, Gov. Cuomo signed into law reductions in income tax rates for middle class New Yorkers:

    • Taxpayers filing jointly that earn less than $161,550 will see rates reduced from 6.09 percent to 5.97 percent.

    • Taxpayers filing jointly earning between $161,550 and $323,200 will see rates reduced from 6.41 percent to 6.33 percent.

  • And the American Museum of Natural History will become a vaccination site beginning April 23rd. (New York Times) The site will be open to all NYC residents, and everyone who gets the shot there also gets free admission for four on a future visit to the museum. Plus, you’ll get the jab under the watchful eye of a giant whale. How much better can it get? 

Related reading:

Working:

  • In the latest return to office updates:

    • Bank of America says its offices will look more normal by September, with plans to accelerate the reopening of locations where at least half of employees are vaccinated. (Bloomberg)

    • HSBC is booting senior staff from its “executive floor” to make room for more collaborative space, where they’ll have to use hot desks like the rest of the company. (Financial Times)

    • Facebook will allow some staff to apply and be approved for permanent remote work after all, after previously expecting everyone to return in June. (Insider)

  • In what Mayor de Blasio hopes is a signal to more businesses across the city, he is moving forward with plans to bring the city’s 80,000 government employees back to the office by May 3rd. (Bloomberg) But some of them have told him they’re not ready. (Patch NYC)

Related reading:

  • Most are in favor of a hybrid work schedule post-pandemic, but how do we maximize its effectiveness? Here’s what the research says. (Reset Work)

  • A Harvard remote work guru on the biggest risks in the return to offices (CNBC)

  • The New York power lunch has returned, but with a pandemic-era twist. (Wall Street Journal)

Request: please let us know as your return-to-office policies are developed and what considerations your companies are taking for developing them. Sharing this information is helpful to companies and employees across the NYC ecosystem and can be kept anonymous.

Recruit: A tech talent and job opportunities board from Tech:NYC and AlleyCorp compiles NYC tech workers looking for new roles and NYC-based tech companies hiring open positions. To contribute to the board, click here.Events:

  • April 21: Virtual: Data Science Day, with Amazon chief economist Pat Bajari and lightning talks from Columbia University researchers. Hosted by the Columbia University Data Science Institute. (Details)

  • April 21: Virtual: A Fireside Chat with Yancey Spruill, CEO of Digital Ocean. Hosted by Work-Bench. (Details)

  • April 22: Virtual: Live (Mock) Term Sheet Negotiation, with Lerer Hippeau principal Caitlin Strandberg, Koffie Labs CEO Ian White, Orrick managing associates Frank Paz and Jae Zhou, and more. Hosted by NYU Data Future Lab. (Details)

  • April 23: Virtual: Equity in the Digital Divide, with a panel of computer science instructions and Code Nation alumni. Hosted by Code Nation. (Details)

Check these sources for verified information from government agencies and public health authorities:

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