Tech:NYC Digest: February 5

Tech:NYC Digest: February 5

February 05, 2021 • Estimated Reading Time: 11 minutes

Friday, February 5, 2021As NYC works through another surge of the coronavirus, the 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: FDA to review J&J vaccine emergency use application later this month; 75 percent of hospitals workers now vaccinated, New Yorkers with underlying conditions eligible Feb. 15; racial fault lines are widening as some communities more hesitant to get vaccinated; according to a new survey from Fortune, 75 percent of CEOs say they’ll need less office space in the future.

Confirmed Cases:

  • New York State: 1,449,495 (+8,777)

  • New York City: 617,168 (+3,883)

  • Statewide Fatalities: 35,920 (+153)

  • NYC Positivity Rates:

    • NYS reports: 5.1 percent (+0.1 percent)

    • NYC reports: 8.5 percent (no change)

General Updates:

  • After fifteen hours of overnight debate, the Senate voted to advance Pres. Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief package, with Vice Pres. Harris casting the tiebreaker vote. (New York Times) That was followed by a House vote to do the same. (Wall Street Journal)

    • Gov. Cuomo and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy appeared together today to express support for the bill’s inclusion of $350 billion in state aid and called for it to be proportionally distributed to reflect the hardest-hit states.

  • Johnson & Johnson has completed clinical trials for its vaccine and applied for emergency use authorization to the FDA. (CNBC) It’s a one-dose regimen and doesn’t require special storage, which makes distribution logistics significantly easier. Approval could come later this month, clearing the way to begin shipment to states in early March.

  • A new calculator projects how long it will take for life to return to normal — which, by its measure, is when states and countries vaccinate at least 75 percent of their populations. If vaccinations continue at current rates, the US may get back to normal by the end of 2022. Worldwide, it will take seven years. (Bloomberg)

  • Once the Super Bowl is all said and done, the NFL will offer all 32 of its member stadiums as mass vaccination sites for the general public. (ESPN)

  • Lastly, don’t put your snow boots away just yet. You’ll need them on Sunday.

The latest results: There has been general consensus among employers that employees will not return to offices until summer 2021 at the earliest. With case rates starting to drop and vaccinations ramping up, some are hopeful the timeline can actually be met. Others, however, caution that variant strains and uncertainty about when the vaccine will be made available to the general public will delay reopening plans further. When do you now expect to be back in the office?

Note: these results trade the top two spots from when we asked this in October — at that time, just over 50 percent of you expected to return by summer 2021 and 23 percent expected by the end of 2021. The amount of you reporting a plan to WFH permanently is virtually unchanged.

Today's poll

: The Buccaneers and the Chiefs face off in the Super Bowl this weekend, and whether you watch for the ads, the halftime show, or the actual game, there’s something for everyone. This year is different, of course, and there are fears the Super Bowl (and 

) will become a super spreader event. In our region, bars and restaurants petitioned for an

for Super Bowl Sunday. What are your plans for Super Bowl Sunday?

 

 

 

  • *|SURVEY: I’m going to a bar/restaurant to watch|*

  • *|SURVEY: I’m watching the game at home|*

  • *|SURVEY: I'm watching the game with a small pod|*

  • *|SURVEY: I’m watching just for the commercials and halftime show|*

  • *|SURVEY: Super what?|*

Find the poll results from all previous editions of this newsletter here.

  • 75 percent of hospital workers in New York have now been vaccinated, an important threshold for eliminating spread amongst 1A priority group populations. (NBC New York) That number is an improvement from 63 percent about three weeks ago, but there are still several hospitals that report vaccinations far below that.

    • Gov. Cuomo is giving those hospitals one more week to offer and administer the vaccine to their workers; after that point, unused leftover doses will be reallocated to local health departments to give them to people with comorbidities beginning Feb. 15.

    • 94 percent of COVID deaths in New York are people with comorbidities or other conditions.

    • The state is working with the CDC to define what qualifies as a comorbidity and a final list will be released soon, but here’s where that list stands as of today.

  • Following criticism over the state’s handling of nursing home residents during the pandemic — and a report by Attorney General Letitia James asserting the number of nursing home-related deaths has been underreported — the State Senate is preparing to pass a package of ten bills to increase accountability and oversight of congregate care settings, as well as the Dept. of Health. (NY1)

  • The state today reported 15 new cases of the UK variant strain, bringing New York to 59 total cases. 18 of those are in NYC. (1010 WINS)

  • Gov. Cuomo said today the next major obstacle to widespread vaccination adoptions is the hesitancy of some communities to take it. (NYS) A recent poll by ABNY shows that 78 percent of white New Yorkers say they will take the vaccine as soon as it's available, but only 39 percent of Black, 45 percent Hispanic, and 54 percent of Asian New Yorkers say the same.

Related reading:

  • Young And Ambitious? Move to New York, Not Austin (Bloomberg)

  • Think NYC Is Dead? Not So Fast. Real Estate Contracts Rebound and Then Some (NY1)

Working:

  • In a survey conducted with 100+ executives at the beginning of the year, 75 percent said their companies will need less office space in the future, suggesting further confidence in more long-term remote work models even when the pandemic is over. (Fortune)

Related reading:

  • The Primal Scream: A series that examines the pandemic’s effect on working mothers in America (New York Times)

  • The one well-being benefit you may be overlooking for working parents (Fast Company)

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:

  • February 8: Virtual: Section 230 – Cooling to Consensus: Maintaining the Competition Constitution, with Sen. Edward Markey, Pinterest’s Braden Cox, National Urban League’s Clint Odom, and Tech:NYC’s Julie Samuels. Hosted by INCOMPAS. (Details) 

  • February 9: Virtual: Meet the VCs Taking on Climate Change, with Union Square Ventures’ Albert Wegner. Hosted by Betaworks Studios. (Details)

  • February 11: Virtual: The Future of Work, with Pursuit CEO Jukay Hsu, Pymetrics CEO Frida Polli, and others. Hosted by Savills. (Details)

  • February 17: Virtual: Section 230 and Your Startup, with US Senate Committee on Finance Chief Adviser Jayme White, Engine Executive Director Kate Tummarello, and more. Hosted by Engine. (Details)

  • February 23: Virtual: Bitcoin Brunchwork, with Future\Perfect Ventures Founder and Managing Partner Jalak Jobanputra. Hosted by brunchwork. (Details)

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

Was this digest forwarded to you? Sign up to

.