Announcement of Community Vaccination Center at NJIT

Published: Friday, March 26, 2021

NJIT Students, Faculty, and Staff,

We are pleased to announce that NJIT is partnering with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the New Jersey Office of the Governor, the Department of Defense (DoD), the New Jersey State Police (NJSP), the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management (OEM), and other agencies to open a new COVID Community Vaccination Center on the NJIT campus. We are working aggressively to prepare for the coming launch of this important initiative on Wednesday, March 31. This center is expected to deploy up to 6,000 doses of vaccine per day and will help save lives, aid in our local and statewide recovery efforts, and expedite our return to normalcy. NJIT is exceptionally proud to be part of this effort and is appreciative of President Biden, Governor Murphy, and the federal and state agencies that are collaborating with NJIT to make this possible and to get this center up and running expeditiously.

It is important for members of the NJIT community to note that opening and operating this vaccination center will require a massive effort from all partner agencies, including NJIT. As such, there will be some disruptions that you may notice. Those include:

  • Closure, to the campus community, of the Naimoli Center, which will serve as the center for vaccination distribution

  • Closure of Bleeker Street, which will be used as the point of entry and exit from the Naimoli Center for those coming to campus for vaccination appointments

  • Roads on the west side of campus are subject to closure as needed to facilitate the safety of the vaccination site

  • Use of the Science and Technology Parking Deck by the Community Vaccination Center staff members as well as those coming to campus for vaccination appointments

  • Use of suites on floors 3 and 5 in VentureLink as a command and operations center by FEMA, DoD, NJSP, OEM, and other agency staff members as well as vaccination center employees 

We specifically selected the Naimoli Center location for vaccine distribution in order to minimize the potential impact on our campus community by keeping traffic to the vaccination center on the perimeter of campus. We also are establishing procedures and protocols designed to prevent the operations of the vaccination center from encroaching upon the majority of our campus or significantly disrupting daily life at NJIT. The duration of this effort has yet to be determined, but we anticipate that, once fully open, the vaccination center will be operational seven days a week for at least two to three months.

While this vaccination center will support the recovery of our state and local communities, it also will provide some vaccine access to the students, faculty (including adjuncts), and staff of our university. This will take place during a soft launch on Monday, March 29 and Tuesday, March 30. If you are available on those dates and are interested in being considered for this vaccination opportunity, please complete the form here.

In addition to the benefits to our state, the City of Newark, and our university community, the NJIT vaccination center will be offering employment opportunities for NJIT students. The posting for those positions can be found at www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/596115600.

NJIT is proud to be part of this important effort to increase vaccine access throughout our region, which will help expedite our recovery and will save lives in our community. I thank you all for your support, cooperation, and patience as we embark upon this massive and essential undertaking.

Sincerely,

NJIT President Joel S. Bloom