Wall Street pressures New York to help speed up vaccines

(Bloomberg) – Some of New York’s largest employers are urging local leaders to allow them to support the Covid-19 vaccination effort, arguing that slow distribution is putting the state’s economic recovery at risk. .

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and KKR & Co. were among the few companies that participated in a call Thursday with the state’s vaccination czar Larry Schwartz, according to people on the call. Some of the companies said they can be supportive in terms of distribution and logistics, and that they could help persuade the Biden Administration to push New York’s vaccine allocation.

“Our economy will not recover and we will not be able to bring people back to the office until we have solid penetration of vaccines,” said Goldman CEO David Solomon.

Wall Street leaders, who have operated from largely empty office towers, are increasingly concerned about continued delays that threaten a return to normal operations. New York City has had to cancel thousands of appointments and temporarily suspend 15 community vaccination sites due to vaccine shortages and dealer delays.

The city continues to administer the vaccines, but many hospitals and vaccine centers have stopped scheduling new appointments for the first doses. Appointments are still being made for second doses.

“The business community is very concerned about the consequences of not distributing the vaccine because it is critical to economic recovery and getting people back to office,” said Kathy Wylde, executive director of the Partnership for New York City, a group that represents to many of the largest employers in the city.

Wylde, who was also on the call, said in an interview that the goal was to help the vaccine reach the public, not just employees of the companies involved.

Representatives for New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

De Blasio issued several warnings this week that the city was dangerously close to running out of vaccines.

About 200,000 vaccines are on the shelves because New York City is “loaded” with regulations that prevent it from using second doses, De Blasio said. Both the Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE and Moderna Inc. covid-19 vaccines require that each person receive two doses.

Nota Original:Wall Street Presses New York to Let It Help Speed Up Vaccines

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