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RR Governor Cuomo - Mp3 Audio Draft Page 1 of 11 Transcript by Rev.Com This Transcript Was Exported on Mar 26, 2021 - View Latest Version Here Scott Rechler: Welcome to recalibrate reality, the future of New York, I'm Scott Rechler share the regional plan association and CEO and chair of our XR working with the 92nd street. Y we've launched a new conversational series where leading thinkers and decision-makers seek to answer the question. How do we recalibrate reality to create a better and brighter future for New York? This is a first in a series of conversations about the future of New York in a post COVID world. And there is no one better to kick off this series than the chief executive for the state of New York. Governor Andrew Cuomo. Governor Cuomo has been new York's leader since he was elected governor in 2011, but at no other point, has his leadership been more critical than with COVID-19 we've watched the governor and his team operate in real time through the COVID fog of war. And now with the vaccine, we're finally starting to see light at the end of the tunnel. And so let's recap it reality with governor Andrew Cuomo, governor Cuomo, welcome to recalibrate reality, the future of New York. I really appreciate taking the time to be here today. You know, I can't believe it's almost a year since we began this battle against COVID. I know for me personally, I can't remember a more intense time, so I only can imagine what it must be for you. So, so before we jump into this conversation like this, how are you doing? How are you holding up? How are you staying so energized to this? Governor Andrew Cuomo: Well, first Scott, thank you. Thank you for all you're doing in this. Thank you for the civic involvement, what you're doing on a personal level of professional level, and thank you for this series because it is smart. We do have to understand what's going on and we do have to plan what's going on. I really believe at this point, our future is what we make it. You know, that expression it's never been more true. The future belongs to the state, the County, the region, the country, that best recalibrates reality, because reality has changed. You used an expression that caught my ear at a previous time when we were together. When you said there's been 10 months of change and retrospection almost daily, there's been a rate of change in society that we really have to appreciate and understand. So thank you. Thank the RPA. Thank the 92nd street. Y how am I doing? I'm tired. It's been 347 days, but you know, we do what we have to do, right? You rise to the occasion. We do what we have to do, but relative to our experience, yes, it's been testing and trying, Scott Rechler: Right. Well, you know, listen, we're with you. And actually that's part of what I'm trying to do. We're trying to do with this conversational series, which is as you, you and I have had the conversation in the past. It feels like that since COVID, there's been a void in the business, the cultural, the civic community, all coming to tackle our, our state, our reasons challenges like we've done in the past when we've had other crisises. So the purpose of this show is to bring together leaders from the arts, the civic, cultural institutions, business, community restaurants, across the spectrums on a weekly basis to hear their insights as to what's happening. And how do we recalibrate reality for a post COVID world? And there's no better person to start with this conversations than you. Someone who has literally been writing a new playbook for us to, to work our way through and how we can rebuild back better and stronger, stronger in a post COVID world. So thank you for, for doing this again. Governor Andrew Cuomo: My pleasure, but Scott, I think you're right. That it's, first of all, it's a matter of timing, right? I used to work in the federal government on emergency management. You'd fly into a place where a hurricane was about to hit. Before you do the damage assessment, you have to let the hurricane pass first is just RR Governor Cuomo - Mp3 Audio_draft Page 1 of 11 Transcript by Rev.com This transcript was exported on Mar 26, 2021 - view latest version here. help people during the hurricane. When the hurricane passes, then you do a damage assessment. How do we rebuild after COVID? Well, let the hurricane pass first, right? And let's see, what's still standing. Now. I think that the bulk of the hurricane has passed. We're still losing people every day. We still have a while to go, but we know the basic parameters of the damage. So I think now you can start in an intelligent conversation about let's take an assessment of the damage and what happened and then where do we go from here? Scott Rechler: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And I think, you know, as you think about it from the here and now, it's starting to feel like there is light at the end of the tunnel, particularly with the vaccine. I know there's been a lot of challenges with getting supply. No one expects it to happen overnight, but what do you think the timeframe is for the vaccine to hit the critical mass for the new normal, to get us to that point? Governor Andrew Cuomo: Look, I do believe the previous federal, federal administration, this was their parting gift. They did mess up the production of the vaccine operation warp speed in the Trump administration. If you remember, they gave billions of dollars to drug companies to expedite the vaccine. Great. But the vaccine is only as good as the vaccine production and we don't have the vaccine production. Now the Biden administration has been in for a few weeks, literally, but it is a supply problem of the vaccine. And it's an incredible foul up in the last days of the Trump administration, they opened the eligibility. So you had nursing homes, nurses, doctors, essential workers, 65 plus in New York, that's about 10 million people. We get 300,000 doses per week. The mayhem is 10 million chasing 300,000 doses every week. So it is all about that supply. Now we have a whole distribution chain set up and pharmacies and small mass vaccination sites, large mass vaccination sites, but it is supply. Governor Andrew Cuomo: And the federal government on the Biden has been increasing that supply slowly in about three weeks. They've raised at about 28%. If Johnson and Johnson is approved, that would be the first major surge. But if you, if you look at the trajectory now, I think you're talking about an upward trajectory. Overall through may, June, may, June, the vaccine should start to hit critical mass. The production should increase. Pfizer will up their production with during, and we'll up their production. Another, a number of other drug companies will up their production. And I think may June, July some, we'll say September, you'll really hit critical mass on the vaccine, but that is the light at the end of the tunnel because the vaccine works. We have the infection stable. Now the vaccine kicks in, that'll bring the infection rate down. The only asterisk to the entire conversation is unless a variant causes may have, what does that mean? Governor Andrew Cuomo: Unless a South Africa variant the UK variant a variant of a variant because this virus mutates constantly, unless one variant comes out that is resistant to the vaccine. That's the caveat that we should keep an eye on. But absent that, I think you're looking at June to September as a range for the vaccine take critical mass. And what I'm trying to do in New York is accelerate the reopening, not waiting for that point, using testing and look on the reopening of the economy. It's all balanced, right? Life is balanced. We're going to reopen the larger arenas. We did a demonstration and the Buffalo bills playoff game 7,000 people were in the stadium all tested before they went into the stadium. First football game in the country to test people going into the stadium will start to open up the larger Rina's with the testing first. RR Governor Cuomo - Mp3 Audio_draft Page 2 of 11 Transcript by Rev.com This transcript was exported on Mar 26, 2021 - view latest version here. And I want to continue to do this. You could open theaters with testing. You could open restaurants to a higher percentage with testing. So I think the testing ran rapid testing is the key to accelerating the reopening because we can't sit here until June, July, August, September. We just can't. Scott Rechler: Yeah. And, and in to that point, just to think about things, when you made the reference earlier, my comment about the Vietnam war with COVID sort of, we had like, you know, 10 years of new innovation adoption in 10 months. And, and when you think about how that has changed society, right? I always like use like the Netflix and blockbuster scenario, right? We knew blockbuster.
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