More Than 21,000 MTA Employees Have Been Vaccinated to Date; 30% of MTA Workforce
New Site Marks Third Vaccination Location in the Past Month for Heroic MTA Employees
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Watch the Event Livestream; Including B-Roll of Employees Getting Vaccine
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) today announced the launch of a new COVID-19 vaccination center at the Jamaica Long Island Rail Road Station in Queens – continuing with the Authority’s efforts to expeditiously vaccinate its heroic workforce. To date, more than 21,000 employees have been vaccinated with thousands more expected in the coming weeks. The center, located within the Jamaica Control Center building, will open tomorrow, Friday, and will be open every Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Partner Mobile Health provides nurses, pharmacists, EMTs and other medical support.
Every Friday 200 MTA employees will be able to receive the Pfizer vaccine at the new location. While Long Island Rail Road employees are expected to be the primary users of the new center, it is open to all employees.
“We are proud of our 7,000 Long Island Rail Road employees and look at them with such admiration for all they have done in the past year and continue to do – they are our heroes,” said LIRR President Phil Eng. “This new vaccination center opens up more availability with new appointments and makes it easy for our heroic workforce to access the location. The opening of the site at the Jamaica Station marks the third vaccination site the MTA has opened in the last month, further ramping up efforts to get employees vaccinated, and we thank our partners at Mobile Health for their dedication.”
“With the progress and push for a return to a new normal, vaccines for our essential workers on the LIRR are so important to deliver to our heroes,” said General Chairman of SMART Transportation Division Anthony Simon. “Transportation workers on Long Island have been at risk and have sacrificed their safety as well as the safety of their families for a full year. It’s time they all have the opportunity and convenience to be vaccinated to keep them safe and provide a safer place for our customers to return.”
“The impact that COVID-19 continues to have on our society is not insurmountable but controlling this problem cannot be achieved individually,” said General Chairman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainman Kevin J. Sexton. “I implore everyone to do their part and get vaccinated. We are all in this together!”
“With the loss of three TCU brothers at the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), and many more of our members and their families affected by this virus, it has been a devastating year to say the least,” said National Representative of the Transportation Communications Union Nick Peluso. “I welcome and applaud the LIRR for getting this done for all our members. As New York and Long Island continue to open up more and more, we look forward to continuing safe, reliable service for our customers. We need to get back to as close to normal as possible, and this is another step towards that goal.”
“We are continuing our great partnership with the MTA to bring the COVID-19 vaccine to our city’s essential transit workers as quickly as possible,” said Mobile Health CEO Andrew Shulman. “We are proud to open a third location serving MTA employees here at Jamaica Station. We will continue to vaccinate MTA employees at a faster rate, now including Jamaica Station.”
The MTA opened its first vaccination site at 130 Livingston Street in Brooklyn on Feb. 24. Two weeks later the Authority opened its second location at Vanderbilt Hall in Grand Central Terminal on March 10.
The center at 130 Livingston Street is open Wednesday through Sunday for 12 hours at a time, with 200 appointment slots available daily.
The vaccination site at Grand Central Terminal in Vanderbilt Hall is open Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Thursdays from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. with 200 appointment slots available on both days.
Additionally, 100 transit workers per day continue to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at the state-run site at Jacob K. Javits Center.
Employees who are part of MTA Headquarters, New York City Transit, the Staten Island Railway and the MTA Bus Company are able to self-schedule their vaccine appointments at the new Jamaica Station location, as well as the locations in Brooklyn and Grand Central Terminal. Employees from other MTA agencies will be scheduled by their departments after completing a vaccine-interest form. For more information visit the MTA COVID-19 Employee Resource Center, here.
Vaccines are available to employees at no cost.