This message was sent to the Rockefeller community from the Office of the Executive Vice President on January 18, 2022 at 1:53 p.m.
Subject: KN95 masks available

Dear members of the Rockefeller community,

As stated in today’s update from Rick Lifton, the university is providing KN95s for employees and students.

Additional KN95s are now available for collection from the Stockroom. As before, each Laboratory/Department is being provided two KN95s for each staff member. Please send a designee to collect the masks for the entire Laboratory/Department from the Stockroom. There is no charge or fee to obtain these masks.

The University Stockroom is open Monday to Friday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm and is located on the B level of the Plaza Building.

The Stockroom is not authorized to distribute additional KN95s without approval from Restart. If you require additional KN95s or have questions about the KN95 distribution program, please contact restart@rockefeller.edu

The KN95s may be disinfected using the UV sterilization chambers located on campus. Questions about the care and use of KN95s or the UV sterilization chambers should be sent to labsafety@rockefeller.edu.

While the University Policy on Face Covering does not require use of KN95s, you are encouraged to use the KN95s while on campus and please feel free to use them wherever face covering is warranted.

Requisitions for KN95s or N95 respirators from external sources will not be processed by the Rockefeller procurement office at this time. Individuals who take public transportation for commuting to campus are eligible to enroll for N95 respirators. Enrollment does require compliance with the university respiratory protection program and must be requested by the Head of Laboratory or Department. Requests for enrollment and questions about the program should be sent to restart@rockefeller.edu.

Requisitions for KN95s are not being processed at this time as we have an inventory of certified masks from a reliable vendor. Note that one study by NIOSH found that about 60% of the KN95s in the United States were counterfeit. We are committed to procuring and distributing quality products and we do not want to unnecessarily burden our procurement and safety teams with having to vet additional vendors.

Please take care of yourselves and each other,

Tim

Timothy P. O’Connor, PhD

Executive Vice President

The Rockefeller University