EDISON – Like neighboring Metuchen School District, the Edison Public Schools is working with Hackensack Meridian Health and JFK Medical Center to provide COVID-19 vaccines to all teachers and staff members.
Schools Superintendent Bernard Bragen; along with Board of Education (BOE) member Virginia White, who is the board’s chairperson and liaison to the township; Andrew Toth, deputy fire chief and Office of Emergency Management coordinator; and Anthony De’Amorin, special assistant to Mayor Thomas Lankey, announced the partnership on March 18.
“Our school district is being allotted a certain number of vaccines each week, and we hope to completely vaccinate all our staff members in the next several weeks,” Bragen said in a statement. “We are grateful for everyone’s efforts in procuring this opportunity for our school community. This achievement speaks of our local governments’ and health system’s power when we work together toward a common goal.”
On March 15, educators from pre-Kindergarten to high school and support staff, child care workers, transportation workers and additional public safety workers became eligible for the vaccines per Gov. Phil Murphy’s guidelines.
Bragen said logistics for disseminating vaccines with be coordinated among the Edison Public School District’s central office administrators, building principals, and hospital officials.
“We ask that everyone please be patient; we are a large district and will work as fast as possible to ensure vaccines for everyone,” he said.
The district’s announcement with Hackensack Meridian Health comes a month after officials came together to plea for equal distribution of the vaccine. Officials said they have plans at ready to administer the vaccine.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave emergency use approval to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Dec. 11, the Moderna vaccine on Dec. 18 and the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine on Feb. 27.
