More than 150,000 COVID-19 vaccinations have been administered across the state, and the rate of people receiving vaccinations continues to increase.

Lt. Gov. Josh Green said he is optimistic that once additional vaccines are approved by the federal government, the vast majority of Hawaii residents will be vaccinated by the summer.

“If we play our cards right, and these additional vaccines come online, which they will, by mid-summer, everyone will have been offered a vaccine if they would like one, and much sooner, talking about February, March, April for anyone who’s kind of in the essential workforce,” Green said this morning on Spotlight Hawaii.

Green said that as more people are vaccinated, he supports loosening restrictions on businesses and gatherings.

“When you get through the high-risk groups, and they’re vaccinated, you don’t have as much to worry about. Because even if there are cases, the cases will be in 20 to 30-year olds, who don’t end up sick enough to go into the hospital. They just have to take 10 days of quarantine away from society,” he said.

Green continued, “As we finish 1b, we’ll be fine. We’ll be basically safe as a society, and when we do the additional 65 to 74-year olds, I don’t really fear COVID then as a society any longer. So that’s when pretty much any gathering that you want to do should be considered.”

Green said if the vaccinations continue on schedule, he expects Hawaii would reach that threshold by May.

“Come May 1, when we’re that safe, we should really be thinking about having large events. Now we should still do it smart,” he said. “We should still have masks…we shouldn’t have people huddled together like sardines, but we will be very safe then.”

Green is also advocating that the Safe Travels program be changed to allow people who have received both doses of a verified vaccine, be allowed to bypass the testing requirement for entry. He said to expect the administration to make an announcement regarding changes to the program in the next 10 days.

Spotlight Hawaii, which shines a light on issues affecting Hawaii, airs live 10:30 a.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday on the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s Facebook page. Join Ryan Kalei Tsuji and Yunji de Nies this month for a conversation with guests. Click here to watch previous conversations and to view the rest of this month’s schedule.