Tech:NYC Digest: September 13

Tech:NYC Digest: September 13

September 13, 2021 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes

Monday, September 13, 2021

In today’s digest, New Yorkers to be (vaccine) carded to enter a restaurant or gym beginning today, CEOs still have a lot of questions about Pres. Biden’s new vaccine mandate, and the star-studded Met Gala returns to Fifth Avenue.

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By the numbers:

  • New positive cases statewide: 3,686

    • New positive cases, NYC: 1,388

  • Statewide Fatalities: 29

  • NYC Positivity Rate: 2.1 percent (-0.2 percent)

  • Statewide Vaccine Progress:

    • Percentage of adults (18+) with at least one dose: 81.6 percent

    • Percentage of total population with at least one dose: 69.1 percent

Today’s latest: 

  • New data from the CDC found that unvaccinated people are 11 times more likely to die of COVID than those who have gotten the shot. (Axios)

    • Of almost 38,000 hospitalizations studied between April and July, only eight percent were vaccinated. 

  • President Biden’s new coronavirus vaccine mandates will help slow the pandemic, but not immediately. Experts say that, with school, office, and other activities expected to move indoors amid fall and winter weather, new case and hospitalization counts are expected to rise in the short term. (New York Times)

  • The Delta variant’s rapid spread in New York City this summer has slowed in recent weeks, convincing some epidemiologists that the city’s third wave has begun to ebb. Others are bracing for an uptick of cases as school starts. (New York Times)

  • The citywide mandate requiring vaccination or a recent test to dine indoors will officially begin enforcement today. (Wall Street Journal)

    • ​​Restaurants have had to comply with the rule since Aug. 17, though some owners said they have been waiting for the full mandate to kick in before beginning to check proof of vaccination from customers. 

    • The city can fine an establishment $1,000 for a first violation, with escalating penalties and other enforcement action for repeat offenders. 

  • About a million NYC public school students went back to school for in-person instruction beginning today, marking the nation’s largest experiment of in-person learning during the ongoing pandemic. (Gothamist) But what will school really look like this fall? Here are six experts on the consequences of missed learning — and what it means for the year ahead.

In other reading:

  • When Will the Pandemic End? Here’s Scientists’ Six Month Outlook (Bloomberg)

  • The J&J Conundrum: a guide on whether Johnson & Johnson recipients should get a booster shot (New York Times)

  • Yes, you can get COVID booster and a flu shot together. Here’s what you need to know. (Washington Post)

Pres. Biden’s order to require businesses with 100 or more employees to mandate the vaccine or weekly testing caught some CEOs by surprise, and they’re anxiously awaiting clarification.

  • Companies could face penalties for noncompliance of up to $14,000 per violation.

Consumer Brands Association CEO Geoff Freeman sent a letter to the President with a long list of questions asking how the rule will be implemented. (CNN) Among the questions the group’s member CEOs still have:

  • What types of proof of vaccination are acceptable under the mandate?

  • Does the mandate only include vaccines fully approved by the FDA, or all those available under emergency use authorization?

  • If an employee refuses the vaccine, is the employer or employee responsible for securing and paying for weekly testing?

  • How should companies document and store employees’ statuses? Do they have to share that data with the government?

  • Are there penalties if an employee falsifies vaccination or testing results? And is the company liable?

These questions and others — like what counts as a “religious exemption” — underscore why executives are anxious: a sweeping plan was announced without the actual policy being available. (New York Times)

  • Having more details from OSHA, the Dept. of Labor agency charged with drafting the rule, at the time of announcement would have likely answered many of these unknowns.

At the same time, the announcement was a sigh of relief. (Protocol) 

  • Especially for tech companies with offices (or even remote workers) in multiple states, a federal solution is an improvement upon the patchwork of protocols they would have to balance otherwise.

  • While many tech companies had already imposed their own vaccine mandates, the rule creates cover for the holdouts for fear of legal liability or employee pushback.

For now, we wait. The rule will be a major test of OSHA’s purview — and the future of workplace regulations more broadly. (Reuters)

We’ll try to answer some of these questions: At 12:30pm on Thursday, Sept. 22, Tech:NYC is hosting a virtual meeting with Proskauer to review the latest OSHA guidance on the federal mandate, the NY HERO Act, and what they both mean for your workplace’s reopening plans. The event is open to General Counsels and legal affairs leads at Tech:NYC member companies. If that’s you, reach out for details here.

In other reading:

  • Work in the Covid-19 Era: What the Numbers Say About Vaccine Mandates, Quitting and More (Wall Street Journal)

  • Life Kit: How To Make Hybrid Work Successful (NPR)

  • Zoom’s all-out blitz to become the king of hybrid work (Fast Company)

  • Sterling Check, a New York City-based background check company, plans to raise up to $314.3 million in an IPO of 14.3 million shares priced between $20 and $22 per share. Goldman Sachs backs the firm.

  • Thorne HealthTech, a New York City-based personalized wellness company, plans to raise up to $135 million in an IPO of 9 million shares priced between $13 and $15 per share. Mitsui Group and Kirin Holdings back the firm.

  • September 14: In-Person: Operating and Raising as a Female Founder, with Smartrr CEO Gabriella Yitzhaek, Chill Pill CEO Hayley Caddes, Seven Starling CEO Tina Bellinson, and others. Hosted by Expa. Register here.

  • September 14: Virtual: Rebuilding New York Summit, with NYCEDC president Rachel Loeb, MTA chief diversity and inclusion officer Michael Garner, Revel co-founder Paul Suhey, and others. Hosted by City & State. Register here. 

  • September 15: Virtual: Creating the Right Culture for Hybrid Work, with Twitter chief human resources officer Jennifer Christie, Menlo Ventures partner Naomi Ionita, Trello co-founder Michael Pryor, and others. Hosted by Protocol. Register here.

  • September 17: Virtual: Gen Z VC Summit, with Lerer Hippeau partner Andrea Hippeau, Cowboy Ventures Principal Jillian Williams, Acrew Capital investor John Smothers, and others. Hosted by Lerer Hippeau. Register here.

  • September 20 – 23: Diversity Reboot Series: Early Career Connections and Mid-Career Pivots, with Girls Who Code founder Reshma Saujani, Path Forward executive director Tami Forman, and others. Hosted by PowerToFly. Register here.

The Met Gala is back! Officially, it’s the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute benefit, a black-tie extravaganza normally held the first Monday in May. Unofficially, it’s been described in many other ways: “the party of the year,” “the Oscars of the East Coast” (mostly because of the star quotient and the elaborate red carpet) and, somewhat pointedly, “an A.T.M. for the Met” — it is a fundraiser after all.

If you’re like us, it’s all about the red carpet looks. Streaming begins at 5:30pm

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