Tech:NYC Digest: September 24

Tech:NYC Digest: September 24

September 24, 2021 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

Friday, September 24, 2021

Happy Friday! In today’s digest, we’re doing something a bit different: this week, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) returned to NYC in-person. Of course, COVID-19 was at the top of the agenda for world leaders. With UNGA week wrapping up, we wanted to do a special edition of the newsletter about what it will take to get past the pandemic globally.

And since we’re by no means experts on that, just for today, you’ll find a special newsletter takeover by our friends at Partners In Health, a leading nonprofit organization working to strengthen health systems around the world.

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By the numbers:

  • New positive cases statewide: 4,184

    • New positive cases, NYC: 1,520

  • Statewide Fatalities: 39 (+9)

  • NYC Positivity Rate: 1.8 percent (-0.1 percent)

  • Statewide Vaccine Progress:

    • Percentage of adults (18+) with at least one dose: 82.9 percent

    • Percentage of total population with at least one dose: 70.2 percent

The latest at Partners In Health:

The UNGA is an elaborate — and traffic-inducing — gathering of presidents, prime ministers, and other world leaders to have multilateral conversations about COVID-19 and recovery efforts.

  • Pres. Biden headlined the convening with an ambitious agenda, and many, including royals Harry and Meghan, met with Gov. Hochul and Mayor de Blasio to discuss vaccine equity and the toll COVID-19 has taken.

Partners In Health (PIH) has been working to guide COVID-19 pandemic responses in US cities and countries around the world. If we’re going to meet global health goals, here are three big ideas we should pursue here at home:

  • Establish a US public health workforce: The COVID-19 pandemic exposed pre-existing inequities in the US public health and health care systems, much of which disproportionately impacts Black and brown communities. In early May, the Biden administration announced a $7.4 billion investment in a public health workforce, which New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand called for in an effort to expand public health jobs and infrastructure nationwide. 

  • Establish COVID-19 community health models: PIH’s US Public Health Accompaniment Unit (USPHAU) provides technical expertise, training, and learning opportunities to support effective health infrastructure, including launching hyper-local efforts to get more vaccines to populations facing the greatest barriers.

  • Increase vaccine availability globally: As the US approaches the 70 percent mark for vaccination against COVID-19, much of the world still does not have that luxury. At UNGA, Pres. Biden pledged to double US donations of the Pfizer vaccine abroad, and other wealthier nations will also need to increase vaccine supplies to poorer countries. (Associated Press)

In related reading:

  • PIH CEO Dr. Sheila Davis and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand: the public health workers who will be key to pandemic response (CNN)

  • Since Covid-19 Hit, Research on Viruses Has Exploded. Is it Safe? (Wall Street Journal)

  • Answers to Your Questions About Covid Booster Shots (New York Times)

Technological innovation is key to achieve global vaccine equity — here are three areas where tech can make a world of difference in getting resources to the people who need them:

Supply chain trouble-shooting: Lockdowns, national export bans, global surges in demand, shipping woes, and flight delays are just some of the challenges PIH supply chain teams have faced over the past year to provide lifesaving support to patients.

  • The race to boost oxygen supplies amid global shortages is still present. This need goes far beyond COVID-19; the treatment of pneumonia, traumatic injuries, and heart problems, for example, all require oxygen, as do simple surgical procedures.

Chatbots, care, and COVID-19: As cases mounted and virtual programming became a necessity, Socios En Salud, as PIH is known in Peru, developed seven mobile apps, each one corresponding with ongoing clinical programs. All the apps connect patients with a chatbot — and, eventually, care — from the comfort and safety of their homes. (PIH)

Better data, better care: New electronic medical record systems in rural health facilities across West Africa have led to faster patient registration and better access to medical records, improving the quality of care received. 

  • The system, called OpenMRS, is an open-source project co-developed by PIH in 2004 and now used by more than 100 PIH-supported facilities around the world, along with several governmental and partner organizations. 

  • Avenue, a New York-based operations observability platform, raised $4 million in seed funding. Accel led the round and was joined by Flexport and a group of individual investors from companies like Coinbase, Uber, Stripe and Thumbtack. (TechCrunch)

  • Grow Therapy, a New York-based startup that helps therapists launch private practices covered by insurance, raised $15 million in Series A funding led by SignalFire. (TechCrunch)

  • ​​Maroo, a New York-based buy now, pay later startup focused on the wedding industry, raised $3.8 million in seed funding. Investors include Rogue Capital, i2bf, Pioneer Fund, Darco Capital, Acrobator Ventures, and YC.

  • Opentrons Labworks, a New York-based lab robotics company, raised $200 million in Series C funding at a $1.8 billion valuation. SoftBank led the round and was joined by Khosla Ventures. (FinSMEs)

  • Seven Starling, a pregnancy and postpartum peer-support platform, raised $2.9 million in seed funding, The round was led by Pear VC, Expa, and Magnify Ventures. (Yahoo Finance)

  • Spotnana, a business travel API platform, raised $14 million in Series A funding. The round was led by ICONIQ and Madrona Venture Group and was joined by Decibel and Mubadala Capital. (TechCrunch)

Want to support PIH further? Watch Bending the Arc, PIH’s documentary on the global movement for health justice, now streaming on Netflix, and PIH’s World Health Day short animated film, narrated by Winston Duke.

Want to attend a PIH event? Check for upcoming webinars and watch recordings of past updates and learn more about what makes PIH unique on Instagram.

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