OLD BRIDGE – A double session of COVID-19 vaccination clinics for staff members in the Old Bridge Township Public School District is on April 8.
The vaccinations will be administered by appointment only with school administration setting up times for teachers and staff, including custodians, bus drivers, secretaries and food service employees.
The district is expected to fill 276 slots over the two days, according to a school district release.
The clinics are under the direction of Penn Medicine Princeton Health, which is collaborating with various Middlesex County school districts to establish vaccination clinics for school staff. More than a dozen districts have opted to participate, including Cranbury, East Brunswick, Monroe, Piscataway and Carteret, according to the release.
“Through the entire course of the COVID-19 health crisis, superintendents became resources for PPE (personal protective equipment) and materials needed to navigate through this unfortunate pandemic,” Old Bridge Schools Superintendent David Cittadino said in the statement. “This is just another example of superintendents coming together, working together for the best interest of our school community because a vaccinated staff member equals a healthier, more consistent learning environment for the entire school community.”
The vaccination clinic for Old Bridge staff members will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 2-5 p.m. on April 8 at Old Bridge High School Main Building, 4209 Route 516, Matawan.
Penn Medicine Princeton Health will provide the nursing staff who will administer the vaccine while Old Bridge School District nurses will monitor staff after they are vaccinated, according to the release.
The program began as the result of a conference call initiated by Cranbury Schools Superintendent Susan Genco and Deborah Millar, director of Community Outreach and Engagement for Penn Medicine Princeton Health.
According to Genco, Cranbury Board of Education President Karen Callahan reached out to Penn Medicine to see if it was interested in a partnership to help school districts. Once Penn Medicine agreed, Genco set up a conference call with interested Middlesex County superintendents, according to the release.
“We are all looking toward one goal – to help vaccinate as many school community members as possible,” Genco said in the statement. “Our county superintendents worked as a true team through this with one common goal – to work toward safely returning to school.”
The first clinic was held on March 30 in Cranbury, where 264 vaccinations were distributed in one day at two locations, according to the release.