Tech:NYC Digest: March 29

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Monday, March 29, 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: Vaccine expands to adults aged 30+ starting tomorrow in NY; real-world data confirms Pfizer, Moderna shots are 90 percent effective after second dose; CDC extends federal eviction moratorium to June 30; 90 percent of Manhattan workers still remote, some tech companies are beginning to bring people back elsewhere.

By the Numbers:

• New York State: 1,843,562 (+7,622)

• New York City: 824,956 (+3,985)   

• Statewide Fatalities: 40,390 (+57)

• NYC Positivity Rates:

  • NYS reports: 4.3 percent (no change)

  • NYC reports: 6.2 percent (+0.4 percent)

• Vaccine Progress:

  • NYS first doses administered: 5,898,278 (+74,960)

  • NYC first doses administered: 2,100,811 (+28,138)

General Updates:

• Today’s big vaccine news in New York: eligibility is opening up to everyone. (New York Times)

  • Beginning tomorrow at 8am, all New Yorkers aged 30 years and older are eligible to receive the vaccine.

  • Beginning April 6th at 8am, all adults in New York (aged 16 and older) are eligible to receive the vaccine.

  • The expanded eligibility will open up the vaccine to about two million more New Yorkers, so landing an appointment could take some time — it’s important to remember that while NYC is receiving a more substantial share of supply in recent weeks, it’s still about 200,000 doses per week.

  • We recommend keeping the TurboVax tab open for what is sure to be an intense appointment grab. NYC Vaccine List is also a good app to check, as well as this tool that scans both the New York State site and pharmacy sites at the same time.

• The expanded eligibility comes as more than nine million doses have already been administered statewide, and about 30 percent of New Yorkers have received at least one dose. (Gothamist) New York joins much of the rest of the country in setting a date to make eligibility universal, and Pres. Biden announced today that 90 percent of all US adults nationwide will be eligible in the next three weeks. (NY1)

  • He also announced that the number of pharmacies enrolled in the program to get doses directly from the federal government (instead of taken from any state’s supply otherwise) will double in the next few weeks to 40,000 locations.

• In other encouraging vaccine news: the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have been in real-world use for enough time to collect actual efficacy rates against current conditions, and that data shows a 90 percent efficacy rate following the inoculation period of the second dose. (Washington Post) These latest results are consistent with clinical trial data, and further show that asymptomatic infections among vaccinated people or transmission to others from vaccinated people is extremely unlikely.

• But it’s important to keep all of this in perspective: New York and New Jersey currently have the highest COVID-19 infection rates in the country. (New York Post) And today CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky shared testimony meant to be a bit of a reality check: even with the vaccines, looser restrictions and more reopenings in the US have resulted in daily news cases rising back to almost 60,000, up 10 percent from the week prior. (New York Magazine) Pres. Biden is calling on states to reinstate mask mandates and pause future reopening plans until a larger portion of the population is fully vaccinated. (The Hill)

The latest results: For the second time during the pandemic, Google gave its global staff the day off today to support mental health and prevent burnout. With trends showing people are working more hours while working from home, other companies are also trying to encourage employees to take time off. Have you taken any time off work in 2021?

Today's poll

: According to a

recent analysis by Crain’s New York

, many top-tier NYC-based tech companies have hired in droves during the pandemic. (For example, Peloton increased its workforce by 110 percent in 2020.) Has your company onboarded new team members this month? 

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

• *|SURVEY: Yes, new employees started this month|*

• *|SURVEY: Not yet, but there are open roles looking to be filled|*

• *|SURVEY: No|*

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

• With appointment-based vaccine eligibility expanding to all adults in the next week, walk-in availability is also expanding: the Citi Field, Bathgate, and Brooklyn Army Terminal mass vaccination sites are now welcoming walk-ins for those ages 75 and older plus one family member, caregiver, or other person accompanying them. (Patch NY)

• ICYMI: New York became the first state to launch the country’s first ‘vaccine passport,’ modeled on IBM’s digital health pass platform. At least 17 other groups, including the WHO and the International Air Transport Association, are working on similar tools, but they still have several details to work out. (USA Today)

  • Some are concerned a patchwork approach could complicate interstate travel. Pres. Biden has indicated he plans to work with the companies building the apps to standardize and manage the credentials verified by the apps. (The Verge)

• The CDC has extended a federal moratorium on evictions of tenants unable to make rent payments to June 30th. (CNN) The nationwide moratorium was expected to expire on Wednesday, but the New York moratorium was already in place until May 1st.

• Experts are warning it’s important that the lack of technology access not be conflated with vaccine hesitancy — those who may not have signed up for the vaccine yet, including those in largely low-income neighborhoods or communities of color, may actually want one, but don’t have the digital resources to do so. (Crain’s NY)

Related reading:

• What coronavirus testing still matters (New York Times)

• Are we heading for a post-pandemic, ‘Roaring 2020s,’ with parties and excess? (Washington Post)

• What Dr. Fauci, Dr. Walensky, and other experts can’t wait to do: go out to eat, visit the dentist, host big family holidays (Washington Post)

Working:

• About 90 percent of Manhattan's office workers are still working remotely, a rate that has remained unchanged for months. (New York Times) 

  • In Midtown and the Lower East Side — which represent the country’s two largest central business districts — 16.4 percent of office space is available for lease, a far greater number than following the 9/11 attacks and the Great Recession in 2008.

  • At least one industry is charging in the opposite direction, though: the tech sector. Facebook, Apple, and TikTok have added millions of square feet during the pandemic — and some commercial real estate executives are predicting that office reboarding won’t truly begin until later in the spring and summer, with much fuller occupancy rates expected by September.

  • Other companies like Spotify, which has more than 2,000 employees in Manhattan, said that while they will offer more flexibility in where employees work, they do not plan to reduce their New York footprint.

• Microsoft and Uber have announced plans to reopen their offices on a limited basis this week, and Facebook will follow suit in May. (NPR) Uber is requiring that “employees returning to the workplace need to take a virtual training, sign a COVID-19 Precautions & Acknowledgement form, and take a daily health screening (including temperature check) at home to qualify for return."

• Other large tech employers have also established target headquarters reopening dates, at limited capacity to start. (The Information)

  • Spotify begins its hybrid model system on June 1;

  • Salesforce will reopen on August 1;

  • Box is targeting a reopen date for Sept. 1;

  • And Pinterest, Snap, Twilio, Twitter, Zoom, and Zillow are among those who will begin the reopening process on an unspecified date this summer.

Related reading:

• 6 workplace changes you can actually expect when you return to the office (TODAY)

• Zoom, Other WFH Tech Darlings, Risk User Exodus as the World Reopens (Bloomberg)

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:

• March 30: Virtual: Built to Lead: Celebrating Women’s History Month, featuring engineers from Etsy, Figma, Compass. Hosted by Maven. (Details)

• March 31: Virtual: The Tech M&A Bounceback, with Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield, Merus Capital founding partner (and former Google corporate development principal) Sean Dempsey, and more. Hosted by Axios. (Details)

• April 8: Virtual: A Conversation with Brad Svrluga, co-founder and general partner of Primary Venture Partners. Hosted by Tech:NYC, Cornell Tech, and Bloomberg. (Details)

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

• New York State Department of Health

• New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

• Centers for Disease Control

• World Health Organization

• Sign up for Gov. Cuomo’s nightly updates

• Download COVID Alert NY, New York's contact tracing app

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