Tech:NYC Digest: January 21

Tech:NYC Digest: January 21

January 21, 2021 • Estimated Reading Time: 12 minutes

Thursday, January 21, 2020As 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: On his first full day in office, President Biden unveils national strategy to fight COVID, including authorizing the Defense Production Act; NYC postpones vaccination appointments amid shortage; join us in taking the NY Forever pledge to let us know you’re here to stay.

Confirmed Cases:

  • New York State: 1,285,337 (+13,886)

  • New York City: 542,799 (+5,198)

  • Statewide Fatalities: 33,594 (+174)

  • NYC Positivity Rates:

    • NYS reports: 5.7 percent (no change)

    • NYC reports: 8.8 percent (+0.3 percent)

General Updates:

  • On his first full day in office, President Biden signed ten executive orders and other directives to put in motion a new national strategy on fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. (Axios) More on that below.

  • Dr. Anthony Fauci has been invited back to the White House press briefings after a months-long absence. (The Hill) In a virtual meeting at 4:10am this morning, Fauci today confirmed to the UN health agency that the United States will return to the WHO and assist in a multinational effort to distribute vaccines globally. (Washington Post)

  • A more aggressive federal plan is welcome news for Gov. Cuomo, who says the state now has thousands of vaccination sites up and running, but aren’t being used to capacity because the incoming supply of vaccines from the federal government is low. (Newsday) NYC has officially postponed all appointments at its vaccine hubs through Sunday amid a shortage of supply, and Gov. Cuomo is warning non-city run sites not to schedule appointments more than a week out, out of uncertainty on what incoming supply levels will be. (NBC New York)

  • And with former president and current full-time Florida resident Donald Trump out of office, security around Trump Tower is being scaled back. (New York Post) And it looks like he took his Diet Coke Button with him.

Get involved: We’re committed to the future of New York and we hope you are too. Today a group of devoted New Yorkers, including our own Julie Samuels, launched NY Forever, an organization to support a stronger, more equitable New York. Join us in affirming your commitment to the city we all love by taking the NY Forever pledge.

The latest results: During his campaign and since the election, President Biden made a lot of promises to action on COVID, racial justice, climate change, diplomacy, and the economy through his first day, his first 10 days, and his first 100 days. How optimistic are you that the Biden Administration will fulfill those promises?

Today’s poll: Today several devoted New Yorkers launched NY Forever, an opportunity for all New Yorkers to affirm their commitment to a stronger, more equitable New York. How long are committed to New York for?

  • *|SURVEY: Forever|*

  • *|SURVEY: Forever and always|*

  • *|SURVEY: Evermore|*

  • *|SURVEY: Ever after|*

  • *|SURVEY: Ever so slightly avoiding answering this question|*

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

A Federal COVID-19 Strategy:

This afternoon, President Biden unveiled a national strategy for addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. (CNBC) In his address, he kept a realistic, matter-of-fact tone: “Things will continue to get worse before they get better.” The previous administration had largely left response efforts to states, and his advisers said they came in inheriting no existing coronavirus plan to speak of from the Trump Administration. (CNN) Here’s a few key components:

  • Vaccine distribution:

    • The plan calls for 100 million shots to be given in the administration’s first 100 days. (NY1) To achieve that, FEMA will stand up 100 federally-supported mass vaccination sites across all states, and the CDC will launch a federal pharmacy program by early February to pipeline vaccine supply more directly to approved sites.

    • The Dept. of Health and Human Services will also expand the pool of medical professionals who can administer the vaccine to meet demand.

  • Masking and testing:

    • Biden is calling for a ‘100 day mask challenge,’ asking every American to mask up with outside their homes. He also signed executive actions requiring a mask when on federal property and also when on plans, trains, buses, and other interstate travel. (Washington Post)

    • The plans also institutes a new measure in which those flying into the US from another country will have to test before boarding and quarantine when they arrive in the US. (Bloomberg)

    • A new COVID-19 testing board will launch to ensure tests get to under resourced populations and other places where they’re needed most.

  • To ramp up all of that, as well as ongoing supply of PPE and other essential safety resources, he signed an executive order activating the Defense Production Act, a move governors and public health officials have been calling on for months. (The Verge)

  • Additionally, he’s partnering with state governments to standardize and streamline guidance for safely reopening schools, childcare centers, and businesses so people can get back to work. (CNBC)

    • To help do that, he has instructed FEMA to appoint one dedicated liaison per state specifically to relay that state’s needs and elevate their priorities at the federal level.

    • The federal government will begin reimbursing states in full to cover the costs of using the National Guard for COVID-related efforts.

  • The US will rejoin the World Health Organization (WHO) and reopen the global pandemic office at the National Security Council. Biden will also formalize the health equity task force he created as part of the transition, as well as create new campaigns to address community distrust and disinformation surrounding the vaccine and the virus more broadly.

  • You can get the full report of the strategy (a very detailed 200 pages) here.

Reopening:

  • Amazon is offering its operations and IT capabilities to the White House in an effort to accelerate the federal government’s vaccine distribution goals. (NBC News)

  • New York extended once again the open enrollment period for residents to opt into the state healthcare marketplace. It’s now open until March 31. (NY State of Politics)

  • Four more cases of the variant strain originally found in the UK have been confirmed  in New York — two in Saratoga Springs and two in Suffolk County. Gov. Cuomo said today they are testing for the separate variants found in South Africa and Brazil, as well, but none have been confirmed so far. (Patch Long Island) The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has been found to be equally effective against the UK variant. (CNBC)

Related reading:

  • Yes, people with coronavirus vaccinations should still distance from each other. Here’s why. (Washington Post)

Company to Watch:DEED

What does your company do?

Deed founder and CEO Deevee Kashi: Deed builds technology that helps people do good deeds. Our first product was an app that makes volunteering easy and social. We then launched our enterprise platform last year designed to help companies engage their employees through social good. Employees can share their time, skills, and money with causes they care about, and employers can manage, track and measure the impact they generate.

We’ve been really struck at how many companies, tech or otherwise, have really stepped up to use their resources for good — be it responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, the racial injustice events last summer, and more. What causes/issues are you hearing employees are most excited to get mobilized on?

DK: We consider ourselves really lucky to be able to participate in delivering relief when timely causes arise. Our partners mobilized their employees in a big way throughout the pandemic, as well as the racial justice movement. Employees were really focused on activism leading up to the election and I don’t think that will die down now that it’s over. We work closely with our partners to identify their unique focus areas that best leverage the talents of their employees and align with their business goals. What we’ve seen work best is a hybrid approach having both employee-led as well as corporate-led CSR initiatives — that way the strategy aligns with your goals as a company while also empowering your employees to contribute to the causes they care about.Read the full interview here.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.

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

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