Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi has hesitated to impose major restrictions on behavior that would feel punishing to Oahu residents, looking instead to the vaccination campaign to defeat the global pandemic that has been punishing enough for a year and a half.

But the delta variant of COVID-19, and the surging infections caseload that has swamped the state’s hospitals, on Monday forced his hand. In fact, this version of the coronavirus has changed all previous assumptions and calculations about what is safe and what is not.

Blangiardi announced that, starting today, all large organized gatherings on Oahu will be suspended at least until Sept. 22.

This was a reversal of his initial policy to allow such events if they follow strict protocols, and surely was a disappointment to the many people affected. The mayor said planners of more than 180 events gathering 200 people or more — ranging from conferences to concerts, from weddings to ticketed sporting events — had submitted mitigation plans for city approval, but are now struck from the calendar.

Even so, the suspension is a necessary, measured approach that the mayor took only under duress, considering the severity of the spike in cases that has shown no sign of a letup. It’s going to take more than this announcement to make it work.

For starters, the suspension must be bolstered by a return to enforcement efforts by police. Any indoor group larger than 10 and outdoor gathering of more than 25 is now restricted, whether it’s an informal event or the organized or commercial type.

If this short-term curbing is to be effective — avoiding closures of beaches, now under consideration in Hawaii County — the public needs to see the rules enforced.

Among those directly affected by Oahu’s large-gathering ban are people who had made costly travel plans to attend weddings, shows or other events. There’s no compensation for those losses — travel during a pandemic entails some risk.

But administration officials should see what can be done to provide some relief to affected vendors and other businesses. At Monday’s news conference, the mayor said he is exploring the use of federal COVID-19 relief funds for that purpose.

The good news is that the full federal approval of the Pfizer vaccine means the pace of delivering the vaccine can accelerate, reaching residents who were holding off for exactly that step.

However encouraging the increased uptake of the vaccine may be, that will not be enough to address Oahu’s acute hospitalization crisis.

Health-care systems are overwhelmed and are erecting overflow clinics in tents outside their doors. And last week, the Honolulu Fire Department unveiled the morgue trailers, purchased last year with $330,000 in federal aid, that are still unused but on standby. Those provisions are necessary but sad to see in Honolulu.

It rests with the residents to make behavior adjustments now, so that the city does not have to use such a contingency.

Jill Hoggard Green, CEO of The Queen’s Health Systems, rightly urged residents to do what they can to stay out of the hospital by getting vaccinated. Even if there is no stay-at-home order, she said, people are safer at home at this time.

Among the gatherings not constrained by this suspension are church services, but they are still accountable to social distancing limitations. Church leadership also should amplify the message of public safety to their congregations.

“We can’t escape the fact that we’re connected to each other,” said Hiro Toiya, director of the city’s Department of Emergency Management.

That’s right. And the best way for people to safeguard those connections is to stay apart, for a little while longer.