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Tag: COVID-19

  • COVID Accelerated Digital Transformation, Says DocuSign CEO

    COVID Accelerated Digital Transformation, Says DocuSign CEO

    “We have seen significant acceleration since the COVID-19 pandemic,” says DocuSign CEO Dan Springer. “A significant portion of that (increase) was due to increased use cases from customers driving that digital transformation faster with services like DocuSign. We don’t see customers going back. Once they’ve got the benefits from that efficiency in their business, the better customer experience, and the better employee experience, they’re going to stay in a digitally transformed world.”

    Dan Springer, CEO of DocuSign, discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digital transformation and he says that businesses are not going back to a manual world:

    COVID Pandemic Accelerated Digital Transformation

    We’ve been really pleased with the growth we’ve had since going public a few years. We have also seen significant acceleration since the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s obviously a horrible pandemic and our number one priority has been the health and wellbeing of our employees so we can take good care of our customers. As you can see in our Q1 earnings we did see an acceleration of our bookings to 59 percent.

    Traditionally, if you look at the billings-type metric they have been in the mid-30s’. A significant portion of that (increase) was due to increased use cases from customers driving that digital transformation faster with services like DocuSign.

    Companies To Stay In This Digitally Transformed World

    One of the things we’ve seen with the pandemic impact is that it has really accelerated the path that companies were already on to drive that digital transformation. We don’t see companies after the pandemic settles down going back and saying they want more paper and more manual processes.

    Once they’ve got the benefits from that efficiency in their business, the better customer experience, and the better employee experience, they’re going to stay in a digitally transformed world. They are going to use DocuSign and other fantastic services to do that.

    The Future Is Going To Have eSignature At The Center

    We really think that the future is going to have eSignature at the center of what we call the overall Agreement Cloud. Companies want to be more agreeable. They want to be easier to do business with and be easier to do business for. They’re going to not just use DocuSign for signature but all of the other components of preparing agreements and managing those agreements digitally once they’ve been created. That’s why we’re excited about our very robust future.

    We just past a billion dollars in revenue (for DocuSign eSignature). We are only four percent penetrated today and we’re six times larger than the next biggest player in the space. There’s not a lot of penetration yet in that core business. Notary is still predominantly done manually. We are making investments there. We believe we can bring the same ease of use that we brought to eSignature we can bring to notary.

    AI To Power The DocuSign Agreement Cloud

    Much bigger than that, even expanding upon the opportunity of eSignature is that broader Agreement Cloud opportunity. We think this is the next big cloud opportunity. You are going to see companies increasingly say I don’t just want to do the workflow and signature. I also want to drive the creations of those agreements. I want to think about artificial intelligence and search capability to manage my agreements. This would enable me to actually manage my business and make my company more agreeable.

    Those are some of the investments we’re making. That’s why we just finished the acquisition of Seal Software last month so we can bring additional artificial intelligence and analytic capability to help people run their businesses better.

    COVID Accelerated Digital Transformation, Says DocuSign CEO Dan Springer
  • Google Relaxing Vaccine and Mask Requirements

    Google Relaxing Vaccine and Mask Requirements

    Google is making major changes to its policies, relaxing its vaccine and mask requirements, as well as reinstating many office-based perks.

    Like many companies, Google has struggled to strike a balance between bringing people back to the office and keeping them safe. The company signaled in July 2021 that it would require vaccination for employees returning to the office. A few months later, in December, it said employees who refused to get vaccinated would be fired.

    The company is now changing its policies, according to CNBC, and will no longer require vaccination. In addition, Google is dropping its mask and social distancing requirement, and is relaxing its testing requirements as well. The news was shared with employees via an email from David Radcliffe, VP, Real Estate and Workplace Services.

    The company is also reinstating some of the perks it is well-known for, such as massage services, fitness centers, and the various “informal space,” including game rooms, lounges, music rooms, and more.

    “We’re at the beginning of a journey, so the office experience will feel pretty similar to what it was like pre-Covid,” Radcliffe said. “We’re designing and piloting options to support new ways of working together and we’ll gather insights, data and feedback to help us learn as we go.”

    According to CNBC, the change is the result of the current state of the pandemic, which appears to be waning significantly, for the first time since the onset.

  • COVID/WFH Has Broken Big Tech

    COVID/WFH Has Broken Big Tech

    In a huge Twitter thread, a big tech insider reveals that COVID and generous work from home privileges are destroying the morale of big tech employees.

    Top 10 Quotes:

    1. Obviously insanely radically leftwing.
    2. COVID/WFH has totally broken people.
    3. Everyone is demoralized.
    4. The Great Resignation is real.
    5. Software engineers which haven’t written code in a year.
    6. Slack bad-mouthing the higher-ups with no repercussions.
    7. It’s very easy to hide and not work with WFH.
    8. There’s no real accountability to anyone.
    9. Bombarded with anti-white, anti-male, woke propaganda.
    10. If Big Tech goes down, the world will probably be better off.

    Hazzard Harrington thread in full via Twitter:

    Obviously insanely radically leftwing. BLM/LGBTQ. Trans flags hanging in office. Pronouns stated before meetings. Special affiliation groups for everyone but white men. All that you’d expect. But COVID/WFH has totally broken people. They are fundamentally weak, often with no social support outside of work. They’re the people with no children, no spouse. Only a dog or cat for emotional support.

    There’s constant talk, even now, about how hard things are for everyone. Often meetings start with going around the room to ask “How is everyone feeling?” Literally, everyone else went on sad rants about their lives. “I’m so MAD a white supremacist shot 3 black men in Kenosha!”

    It’s toxic. When it got to me, I said “Good.” and then a (((lady engineer))) literally proposed that we should not be allowed to answer the question positively. I shit you not. I think it hurt her that I wasn’t as miserable as her. She made some arguments about “vulnerability”. These people not only want you weak, but they also want you to expose your vulnerabilities to them so they can exploit them. They may not intend this explicitly, but whatever twisted ideology they worship ends with this result.

    So back to morale. Everyone is demoralized. This may surprise you since Big Tech is extremely well paid and has been able to WFH throughout the past 2 years. They’ve been given extra days off, extra stipends, bonuses, etc. They never had to fear being laid off. I have some sympathy and can feel some of this myself. It’s normal and natural to work with people in person. WFH can make it easy to overwork. You take fewer breaks, often work past normal working hours. You don’t feel connected to customers or celebrate success in person.

    And as I mentioned, Big Tech is often the only social life for people. I fortunately never made it mine, but my company had all sorts of after-work activities. Sports leagues, game nights, different classes taught by employees. There was a rhythm and connectedness that’s gone. The Great Resignation is real. Many employees are leaving for better jobs. Remote work has (so far) resulted in more job opportunities for those working in Big Tech, especially outside of Silicon Valley. And so we backfill those positions or hire new people, all remote.

    We now have employees who have nearly 2 years of tenure who have never met another employee in person, and live alone in some city away from where the office was. This would be fine for a normal person, but again, we’re attracting the family-less urbanites scared of even meeting up with their friends at a restaurant. The churn in jobs also has the major effect of constantly dealing with the overhead of re-assigning projects from people leaving, and onboarding new people. The new employees don’t get enough attention to succeed.

    And the employees that stay end up with a load of work dumped by the former coworkers, plus the responsibility of onboarding the new ones. There are many software engineers who’ve not written a single line of code in the past year.

    While the Woke agitation has slowed due to the productive employees’ ability to simply log off, in addition to the tiredness of the agitators, there is more and more open rebellion regarding pay and profits. “Bring your whole self to work” was the Big Tech mantra. Tell people about your cool hobbies, share your politics (if you’re far left only), share your sex life. This plus the feeling of distance an online-only presence creates has made people braver in speaking their thoughts.

    You used to have the balls to knock on the CEO’s office door or schedule a meeting. Now you can fire off a nasty Slack message straight to her. People will openly write threads and comments throughout Slack bad-mouthing the higher-ups at the company. And they do nothing. It’s unreal what people will write, with no recourse. If it were anything remotely RW, I’m certain they’d be immediately fired, but so long as they’re sufficiently LW or minority (anything but straight white man), they can agitate, complain, do no work, and continue employment.

    And so the entire company has devolved. We’re running on the code written in years past. No major new product initiatives are being launched. Workers complain that they’re understaffed and demoralized. People take constant sick days or don’t show up at all without a record.

    It’s very easy to hide when WFH. With such a flux in employees/management and so much allowance for “mental health”, it’s easy to simply no-show without punishment. We hired a new employee and I pinged them at 1 pm to see if they’d join a meeting. They came 10 minutes later. Said they slept in because they didn’t have anything to work on.

    It’s got to be mind-boggling for someone not in software. On a given day, managers (there are several in weird matrix structure) will say things like “What can I do to support you?” “Do you have enough to work on? Too much?” It’s like emotional support. And you can simply say, “Oh, I’ve had a hard week. Barely slept. Felt sick. Don’t think I can handle much more this week.” There’s no real accountability to anyone. Record profits at the top, because of existing code and product-market fit cruising along, so leaders don’t notice.

    It’s utterly surreal to watch the deterioration. To see how quickly an organization can crumble. And I’m not productive either. I’m constantly bombarded with anti-white, anti-male, woke propaganda. We’ve even had explicit discussions of assigning less work to URMs (under-represented minorities), because “life is really hard for them right now.” This suggestion was from a lesbian white woman with cats. As productive as one person can be, you can’t add value when constantly thwarted. Nobody in IT doing tickets anymore to provision things for you large bureaucracy to gatekeep any actions (needs review by X number of committees including now DEI committees). It’s hard to feel unproductive. I’m not the type who feels great about getting paid to not work, but that’s essentially what I’ve been doing for the last year.

    This problem is the worst in Big Tech, so if Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Amazon Prime, or Netflix go down, the world will probably be better off. It’s not essential. I worry about this apathy spreading to companies that matter. Ones that write software for utilities.

    We had a woman who worked for us who was just awful at her job. Could not understand instructions at all. Could not do the job. Barely spoke English. She wasn’t just not productive, she actually dragged the team down. I worked with my Director to finally get her fired after failing her Performance Improvement Program (PIP). HR told us they can’t fire her because she’s Asian and female and in California, that it’s just simply too hard. This was over 5 years ago.

    You have a certain fire in your 20’s. Ready to reform and change everything. You get noticed when you perform. Promoted, bonuses, etc. But eventually, you keep hitting the same problems or gatekeepers over and over. I recall asking an older coworker (mid-thirties at the time) what drove him, and he said he just does it for the paycheck now. I’m at that point. Lost the fire for career and collecting my paycheck for other purposes in life where the fire has been rekindled.

    I worked remote for 5 years at a prior job and this was never the case. There’s something special about this combo of remote and “your feelings are valid”.

  • FDA Authorizes Pfizer’s Pill to Treat COVID-19

    FDA Authorizes Pfizer’s Pill to Treat COVID-19

    In a potential game-changer in the fight against COVID, the FDA has approved Pfizer’s pill to treat COVID.

    While governments are working hard to get as many people vaccinated as possible, companies have also been working on better ways of treating those that contract the virus in the hopes of preventing the worst symptoms from developing.

    Pfizer has now received authorization for the first pill designed to do just that.

    “Today’s authorization introduces the first treatment for COVID-19 that is in the form of a pill that is taken orally — a major step forward in the fight against this global pandemic,” said Patrizia Cavazzoni, M.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “This authorization provides a new tool to combat COVID-19 at a crucial time in the pandemic as new variants emerge and promises to make antiviral treatment more accessible to patients who are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19.” 

    The pill, Pfizer’s Paxlovid, is not designed as a preventative medication, but should be taken “soon as possible after diagnosis of COVID-19 and within five days of symptom onset.”

    Having an effective way to treat the virus after infection could save tens, or even hundreds of thousands of lives moving forward.

  • Apple Delays Return to Office Indefinitely, Gives Employees $1,000

    Apple Delays Return to Office Indefinitely, Gives Employees $1,000

    Apple has joined the list of companies pushing back its return-to-office date as the omicron variants threatens a new wave of infections.

    Apple was one of many companies looking to have employees return to the office early next year. Unfortunately, the omicron COVID variant is gaining traction and threatens to spark a new wave of cases. This latest turn in the fight against COVID has forced companies, including Apple, to rethink their previous plans.

    NBC News reporter Zoë Schiffer broke the news on Twitter.

    Schiffer also clarified that all retail employees will be receiving the $1,000 bonus. 

    Apple has been one of the companies most intent on getting employees back to the office. The fact that it is now changing course and leaving the return-to-office date open-ended speaks volumes about the state of the workplace and remote work.

  • Google Will Fire Employees Who Refuse to Get Vaccinated

    Google Will Fire Employees Who Refuse to Get Vaccinated

    Google is drawing a line in the sand, saying it will cut pay and eventually fire employees who refuse to get the COVID-19 vaccination.

    Companies and governments are racing to get as many people vaccinated as possible, with experts calling vaccination the single biggest aid to avoiding hospitalization or death. Especially with the omicron variant threatening to set off another wave of infections, efforts to vaccinate people have gone into high gear.

    According to a memo seen by CNBC, Google is telling employees that if they refuse to get vaccinated, their pay will be cut and they will eventually be fired.

    A Google spokesperson said that, “our vaccination requirements are one of the most important ways we can keep our workforce safe and keep our services running,” adding the company stands “behind our vaccination policy.”

  • No, Companies Have No Idea When They’ll Return to the Office

    No, Companies Have No Idea When They’ll Return to the Office

    After multiple return-to-office dates, COVID-19 surges and delayed expectations, one thing is clear: Companies have no idea when they’ll return.

    From the moment companies sent employees home to work remotely in the early phases of the pandemic, those same companies have been looking to return to the office, to a sense of “normal.” At every step, however, new COVID variants, spikes in cases and fresh government restrictions have pushed back return-to-office dates around the world.

    According to The New York Times, many companies are giving up altogether on trying to predict when their employees will be coming back. Apple, CNN, Ford and Google are just a few of the companies adopting a wait-and-see approach, and giving up on specific predictions.

    “The only companies being dishonest are the ones giving employees certainty,” Nicholas Bloom, a Stanford professor and advisor to dozens of CEOs told The Times. “As a parent you can hide stuff from your kids, but as a C.E.O. you can’t do that to adult employees who read the news.”

    “Folks have hedged appropriately this time around and they understand that it’s a dialogue with their employees, not a mandate,” Zach Dunn, co-founder of the office space management platform Robin, told The Times. “If that sounds a little kumbaya, maybe. But the reality is, folks are learning that sharing the intention of their return plan is more important than sharing the plan itself.”

    With the omicron variant now sweeping the globe, it’s a safe bet leaving the return-to-office open-ended — or just going all-in on remote work — is likely to be the “new normal” moving forward.

  • Omicron Delays Google’s Back-to-Office Date

    Omicron Delays Google’s Back-to-Office Date

    Google is delaying its back-to-office date again, this time as a result of the omicron COVID-19 variant.

    Like most tech companies, Google has repeatedly delayed its back-to-office date as the pandemic has continued. The company last postponed its date in late August, moving it from mid-October to January 10.

    According to CNBC, Chris Rackow, the company’s security VP, sent an email to employees telling them the the company would wait until the new year to make decisions about a return to the office. Rackow says the company will be looking to determine when it can safely return to a “stable, long-term working environment.” As a result, no employees will be required to switch to a hybrid workflow by the January date, as previously planned.

    Rackow didn’t specifically mention the omicron variant, but Business Insider had earlier reported that Google cited the variant when postponing its back-to-office date in specific regions that are already seeing the variant spread.

    Health officials are concerned by the omicron variant because of the high number mutations it has, leading some experts to believe it may be better at evading immunity — both from previous infections and from vaccines.

    If omicron becomes as much of a threat as experts fear, it’s a safe bet Google won’t be the only company pushing back a return to the office.

  • Unvaccinated COVID Patients Will Pay Their Own Bills In Singapore

    Unvaccinated COVID Patients Will Pay Their Own Bills In Singapore

    The Singapore government is tired of footing the bill for unvaccinated COVID-19 patients, and will soon force them to pay their own medical bills.

    Governments around the world are struggling to deal with the strain COVID patients put on available medical resources. There have been countless cases of patients seeking treatment for cancer, needing minor surgery, or dealing with any number of other conditions being sent home because of hospitals filled to the brim with COVID patients. Often, it is unvaccinated patients that cause the lion’s share of the burden.

    It appears Singapore has had enough, and is preparing to take measures to ensure individuals that choose to remain unvaccinated, without a medically valid reason, will have to foot their own bill, according to NPR.

    “Currently, unvaccinated persons make up a sizeable majority of those who require intensive inpatient care, and disproportionately contribute to the strain on our healthcare resources,” the Ministry of Health said in a statement when announcing the change.

    The change will take effect on or after December 8. It’s a safe bet many other countries will eventually follow suit.

  • United Airlines Will Start Firing Workers Who Don’t Get Vaccinated

    United Airlines Will Start Firing Workers Who Don’t Get Vaccinated

    United Airlines is taking a zero-tolerance policy toward the unvaccinated, with plans to fire employees who refuse to get the jab.

    Companies around the world are rolling out mandates, requiring their employees to get vaccinated in order to return to work. Many companies are especially emphasizing mandates for employees that travel, given their increased risk of exposure.

    United Airlines told Reuters that some 593 of its employees are at risk of being fired over refusing to comply with the mandate. The company had set a deadline of September 27, and will start firing the non-compliant as early as Tuesday.

    “This was an incredibly difficult decision but keeping our team safe has always been our first priority,” Chief Executive Scott Kirby and President Brett Hart said in a memo, according to Reuters.

  • Walgreens Exposed COVID Testing Data, Refused to Fix Issue

    Walgreens Exposed COVID Testing Data, Refused to Fix Issue

    In a shocking display of negligence and incompetence, Walgreens left COVID testing data exposed and refused to fix the issue when notified.

    Walgreens quickly emerged as one of the most popular places for individuals to get tested for COVID-19, even touting itself as “a vital partner in testing and community education.” Individuals could register online, take the test through the company’s drive-thru and receive the results via email.

    Unfortunately, according to Recode, Walgreens left the data on the open web, where virtually anyone could gain access to it. The data included name, address, email address, gender, date of birth and phone number of those who were tested. In some cases, it was even possible to access test results.

    According to Recode, Alejandro Ruiz, a consultant with Interstitial Technology PBC, found the security issues in March. Ruiz informed Walgreens of the issues, using multiple channels, but the company was not responsive.

    To make matters worse, security experts told Recode the issues were so basic that any company with as large a web presence as Walgreens should have known how to avoid them. Ruiz believes it’s further evidence of Walgreens’ lack of concern.

    “Any company that made such basic errors in an app that handles health care data is one that does not take security seriously,” Ruiz said. 

    Recode contacted Walgreens directly and gave them time to fix the vulnerabilities before publication. Shockingly, Walgreens refused to do so.

    “We regularly review and incorporate additional security enhancements when deemed either necessary or appropriate,” the company told Recode.

    As if the lack of security was not worrying enough, researchers found a number of ad trackers attached to the company’s testing confirmation webpages, including from Adobe, Akami, Dotomi, Facebook, Google, InMoment and Monetate, in addition to data-sharing partners.

    “Just the sheer number of third-party trackers attached to the appointment system is a problem, before you consider the sloppy setup,” Sean O’Brien, founder of Yale’s Privacy Lab, told Recode.

    The other security experts were even more damning in their evaluation of the situation.

    “This is a clear-cut example [of this type of vulnerability], but with Covid data and tons of personally identifiable information,” said Zach Edwards, privacy researcher and founder of the analytics firm Victory Medium. “I’m shocked they are refuting this clear breach.”

    “It’s just another example of a large company that prioritizes its profits over our privacy,” Ruiz said.

  • Google Pushes Return to Office Back to January

    Google Pushes Return to Office Back to January

    Google has pushed its return to the office date back again, just weeks after a previous delay.

    Several weeks ago Google pushed its return date from September to mid-October as a result of the Delta COVID variant. Delta has been a responsible for a surge in cases worldwide, and led to “breakthrough” cases in vaccinated individuals.

    The company has now informed employees they will not be required in the office till at least January 10, according to The New York Times.

    CEO Sundar Pichai let employees know in an email. He said that once the deadline passes, offices in each country will be responsible for deciding when to have employees back, based on the circumstances in their locale. Even then, employees will receive a 30-day notice before coming back.

  • Intel Giving Employees $250 to Get COVID Vaccine

    Intel Giving Employees $250 to Get COVID Vaccine

    Intel is ramping up its efforts to encourage its employees to get the COVID vaccine, offering a $250 incentive.

    Companies are increasingly rolling out vaccine mandates for their employees as the Delta variant continues to surge around the world. While Intel has not yet gone that route, it is trying to encourage as many as possible to get vaccinated, sweetening the deal with $250.

    Brahm Resnik, a reporter in Phoenix, Arizona, tweeted a copy of the email CEO Pat Gelsinger sent to employees.

    “I am urging you to get a COVID-19 vaccination when it is available in your area,” Gelsinger wrote. “Provided it is possible for you, this is an act that will keep you, your family, your colleagues, and your community safer. I’m a data guy and the data shows that vaccination is a critical element in ending this pandemic. The risk of infection among vaccinated individuals is reduced about three-fold, and the risk of severe disease or death is reduced by ten-fold or greater.” 

    The company is offering a $250 “thank you” to any employee who gets vaccinated, or has already done so. In addition, Intel will provide hourly employees a geo-adjusted $100 food voucher.

    In a recent address, President Biden urged companies to offer incentives of $100 to motivate employees to get vaccinated. Intel is obviously going above and beyond in its efforts.

  • Facebook Delays Return to Office Until 2022

    Facebook Delays Return to Office Until 2022

    Facebook is the latest company to push back its return-to-office date, shooting for January 2022 amid the Delta surge.


    The Delta COVID variant has upended many companies plans, with a number of high-profile organizations opting to delay a return to the office, require vaccination or both. Facebook is the latest to join that club, pushing its date back to January 2022.

    At the same time, the company indicated it would make decisions based on data, not arbitrary dates.

    “Data, not dates, is what drives our approach for returning to the office,” the company said in a statement, according to CNBC. “Given the recent health data showing rising Covid cases based on the delta variant, our teams in the U.S. will not be required to go back to the office until January 2022. We expect this to be the case for some countries outside of the US, as well. We continue to monitor the situation and work with experts to ensure our return to office plans prioritize everyone’s safety.”

  • California Now Offering Digital COVID Vaccination Record

    California Now Offering Digital COVID Vaccination Record

     

    California is now offering residents digital proof-of-vaccination, making it that much easier for someone to prove their vaccination status.

    Jurisdictions have been struggling to find an effective way for people to prove they’ve received the vaccine, something many experts believe is necessary for a complete return to normal. Some governments are working on vaccination passports, although progress has been slow. In the meantime, individuals are being given a physical vaccination card, and it’s up to them to scan it or take a picture of it for safe-keeping.

    California is looking to make things a bit easier, with a digital vaccination record option. Residents can go to a state website, enter their details and receive a digital copy and a QR code for easy sharing.

    If you want to share your proof of vaccination, you can use either the electronic version you’ll get from the portal or the card you were given at time of vaccination.

    If you are a parent or guardian and have multiple vaccine records associated with a single cell phone number or email address, enter each digital vaccine record request separately.

    While still a far cry from a vaccination passport, California’s digital record is certainly an upgrade when it comes to convenience.

  • COVID-19 and Genetic Testing

    COVID-19 and Genetic Testing

    Last spring, President Joe Biden set a goal for 70% of American adults to be vaccinated in time for July 4th.  As of May 2021, 50% of Americans have been at least partially vaccinated against the disease.  While the feat is substantial, it has not put pandemic risks to an end just yet.  A decline in new demand for shots has left the president’s goal uncertain.  Despite not being close to herd immunity levels (which would require 70% to 85% of a population to be vaccinated, many states have lifted their COVID-19 related safety restrictions.  Public compliance with social distancing is on the decline.  For as long as the US is not at herd immunity, this behavior allows highly contagious and (eventually) vaccine-resistant variants to spread. COVID-19 and genetic testing can solve a lot of these issues.

    When Will the US Reach Herd Immunity?

    The issue stretched beyond US borders.  Despite problems in allocation and convincing people to take the vaccine, the US is far ahead of most countries in its vaccination efforts.  Current estimates predict the United States will reach herd immunity levels of vaccination by late this year.  Compare that to most of Africa and parts of Eastern Europe, Asia, and Latin America, who will take until at least 2023 to do the same. 

    In the meantime, 2 in 3 epidemiologists believe that mutations in the virus will render first-generation vaccines ineffective by 2022.  88% agree that low vaccination rates in some countries will allow vaccine-resistant strains to develop.  So by the time most of the world has gotten a vaccine, the vaccine will no longer be enough to end the pandemic.  Another round of mass vaccination will be needed, and unless the second one rolls out considerably faster than the first, this pattern will become entrenched in the lives of billions.

    It is frustrating to know there is no certain end to the pandemic at this time.  The knowledge that strangers on the other side of the world are every bit as responsible for ending the pandemic as one’s self and neighbors.  “[I]n a pandemic of course we’re only safe if we’re all safe,” as Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance put it. 

    High Risk Identification

    What steps can people take in the meantime?  For people who are at high risk for severe coronavirus symptoms, this question is extremely pressing.  From liver disease to diabetes to pregnancy, there exist a wide swath of people with comorbid conditions.  While the rest of the population only maintains routine precautions like washing their hands and wearing masks in certain areas, at-risk people may continue to socially distance and avoid crowds.

    For those who don’t know their own risk, GeneType COVID-19 Risk Test is there to help.  Right now, 1 in 4 adults could be incorrectly categorized for their risk of developing severe symptoms.  This at-home kit seeks to fix that by considering 16 comorbidities and genetic markers.  It improves risk prediction by 25% over standard clinical models and users receive their risk score in a detailed personal report in 5-7 days.

    Fighting COVID-19: Know Your Risk
  • Bitcoin 2021 Labeled a ‘Super Spreading Event’

    Bitcoin 2021 Labeled a ‘Super Spreading Event’

    The Bitcoin 2021 conference may have come and gone, but it’s having a lingering impact as attendees are beginning to test positive for COVID-19.

    The Bitcoin convention was held last weekend in Miami, with some 12,000 attendees. As one of the first in-person events to happen since the pandemic’s outbreak, Bitcoin 2021 had no mask mandates or proof-of-vaccination requirements. People came from all over the world, mingling for three days.

    In the aftermath of the event, people started testing positive, leading some to label the conference a “super spreader event.”

    https://twitter.com/MiguelICarlos/status/1403079171505418240?s=20

    Some Twitter users are already condemning those who attended without being vaccinated, saying it showed reckless disregard for the health of others.

    While it’s not clear how many have been infected, some users indicated entire groups of people they were hanging out with have all tested positive.

    Bitcoin 2021 illustrates the challenges event holders will continue to face, despite rising vaccination numbers.

  • Zoom Announces Zoom Events to Tackle Virtual Experiences

    Zoom Announces Zoom Events to Tackle Virtual Experiences

    Zoom has announced it will release Zoom Events this summer, in an effort to help companies of all sizes tackle virtual events.

    The virtualization of in-person events has been just one of the many impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Everything from big events — like Apple’s WWDC and Microsoft’s events — to smaller companies’ sales summits have gone virtual. For many companies, however, it can still be a challenge to successfully pull off a digital event.

    Zoom hopes to change that with its upcoming Zoom Events platform.

    Zoom Events offers something for a variety of use cases – from enabling large businesses to seamlessly manage and host internal events like all-hands and sales summits and external events like user conferences, to smaller businesses and entrepreneurs who have been using OnZoom to create, host, and monetize events including fitness and cooking classes, theatrical presentations, and more. As part of the launch of Zoom Events, OnZoom, currently in Beta, will be rebranded and folded into Zoom Events, and can be either private, or searched and explored publicly.

    The company sees a future for the platform that extends far beyond the pandemic. In fact, Zoom cites research showing that 80% of people believe a virtual element will continue post-pandemic, with 52% of respondents planning on enjoying both in-person and virtual events.

    “It’s an exciting time to be at Zoom where the pace of innovation continues to accelerate,” said Oded Gal, chief product officer at Zoom. “We know that people are looking for flexibility in how they attend events in the future. The hybrid model is here to stay, and Zoom Events is a perfect solution for our customers who are looking to produce and host customer, company, and public events with an easy, yet powerful solution. This is another way we’re helping customers scale to meet consumer demands and the evolving virtual and hybrid landscape.”

  • DoorDash Offering On-Demand COVID Test Delivery

    DoorDash Offering On-Demand COVID Test Delivery

    DoorDash is expanding beyond its traditional market, with a new deal to deliver COVID-19 tests.

    Testing remains one of the most important factors to combatting the global pandemic, but finding where to go and getting tested remains a challenge for some. DoorDash aims to address that obstacle, with COVID test deliveries.

    Today, we are excited to announce our partnerships with Vault Health and Everlywell, enabling customers to access two COVID-19 home collection kits that received FDA Emergency Use Authorization on-demand from DoorDash’s DashMart locations across the nation. The Vault Health powered COVID-19 Saliva Test Kit or the Everlywell COVID-19 Test Home Collection Kit DTC will be available in 12 DashMart locations across the U.S. including Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Minneapolis, and Phoenix, with more cities rolling out in the coming months. Vault Health’s test kit sells for $119 and Everlywell’s test kit sells for $109; both may be eligible for reimbursement with healthcare insurance.

    Once the test is taken, it can be dropped in the mail and sent off for analysis. The deliveries will make it easier for individuals with limited transportation options to get the testing they need.

    “As many as 30 percent of people skip doctor’s appointments because they don’t have a reliable way of getting there,” said Dr. Marisa Cruz, Head of Clinical Affairs at Everlywell and former Senior Medical Advisor for Digital Health at the FDA. “The fact that you can now get a kit delivered to your door in hours, quickly collect a sample and drop your kit in the mail, and then receive an accurate COVID-19 diagnosis and speak to a physician about next steps in as little as 24 hours later is a significant step forward for public health”.

    Doorstep delivery is one more important tool in the fight against the pandemic, making it that much easier for everyone to get tested as needed.

  • UVeya Using UV Light Robots to Disinfect Airplanes

    UVeya Using UV Light Robots to Disinfect Airplanes

    UVeya, a Swiss start-up, is testing robots that use ultraviolet (UV) light to disinfect airplanes, in an effort to make air travel safer.

    Few industries have felt the impact of the pandemic more than the airline industry. During a global pandemic, being in a confined space with recirculated air is the last thing many people want to do.

    UVeya is working on a way to improve the safety of airplane cabins by using robots to disinfect the cabins with UV light. The fully autonomous technology can disinfect a cabin in less than 10 minutes, with 99% efficacy against COVID-19.

    “This is a proven technology, it’s been used for over 50 years in hospitals and laboratories, it’s very efficient,” said UVeya co-founder Jodoc Elmiger, according to Reuters. “It doesn’t leave any trace or residue.”

    The company is currently testing its robots with “Dubai-based airport services company Dnata inside Embraer jets from Helvetic Airways, a charter airline owned by Swiss billionaire Martin Ebner.”

    UVeya hopes its tech will achieve widespread adoption, providing a safe, environmentally-friendly way of making air travel safer.

  • Biden Administration Working on Vaccination Passport Standards

    Biden Administration Working on Vaccination Passport Standards

    The Biden administration is working on standards to help establish a vaccination passport, another step toward a return to normal.

    One of the major challenges countries face is containing the spread of COVID-19, including new variants that arise, while at the same time easing travel restrictions. While vaccination plays a major part in that, there is currently no standard way to prove one’s vaccination, other than using the physical vaccination card provided. The physical card isn’t the most practical option for travel, and can be easily faked.

    According to The Washington Post, the Biden administration is working with private companies to develop a scannable, digital passport. With many industries refusing to fully open without proof of vaccination, the passport will provide an easy way for people to prove they’ve received it.

    The work echoes efforts in the European Union to do the same, with IBM winning the contract to create the passport for Germany.