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Hawaii News

No rush in Hawaii for COVID booster shots as vaccination rates continue to climb

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM
                                COVID-19 booster shots are currently available only for those who received the Pfizer vaccine. Above, Jerry Felicitas grimaced Thursday while receiving a booster dose from Dr. Glenn Young at the Filipino Community Center in Waipahu.

CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM

COVID-19 booster shots are currently available only for those who received the Pfizer vaccine. Above, Jerry Felicitas grimaced Thursday while receiving a booster dose from Dr. Glenn Young at the Filipino Community Center in Waipahu.

It’s been a week since federal agencies greenlighted booster shots for millions of Americans who were fully vaccinated against the coronavirus with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and while there were initial concerns that demand could quickly outstrip supply, there are no signs locally of a mad rush to get the shots.

Since Friday, providers throughout the state administered 22,998 shots total, 6,918 of which were third doses of a vaccine, according to Department of Health data. The data for third doses includes Pfizer booster shots as well as residents who received a third dose of a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine because of a medical condition that classifies them as immunocompromised.

The data shows that about two-thirds of the shots given out in recent days went to residents who were unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated, the group that health officials have most prioritized.

“Getting those people vaccinated is going to do the most good, not just for them, but for the rest of us,” said Brooks Baehr, a spokesman for the Department of Health.

Nearly 90% of Hawaii residents who are eligible for the vaccine, which includes anyone 12 or older, have now received at least one dose. Still, about 133,000 ­eligible residents remain ­unvaccinated against the ­virus, which in September killed 193 Hawaii residents and visitors, the deadliest month of the pandemic so far.

“A horrible month deathwise — tragic,” said Baehr.

While health officials are most eager to see the unvaccinated population get their shots, they say this shouldn’t dissuade other residents who are eligible for boosters from getting another dose. Boosters are currently available only for those who received the Pfizer vaccine. The state has about 100,000 Pfizer doses and has ordered another 22,000, said Baehr.

Federal officials have approved the boosters for people age 65 and older and those ages 50 to 64 who have underlying medical conditions that make them particularly susceptible to severe illness and hospitalization from COVID-19. State officials have prioritized these two groups over other segments of the population that are also eligible for the booster shots, including those between ages 18 to 49 who have underlying medical conditions or are at high risk of exposure, such as health care workers and teachers.

“We don’t want to slow anyone down,” said Baehr of people who are eligible and think they could ben­e- fit from extra protection against COVID-19. He said residents should conduct their own assessment of whether they think they could benefit from the another dose.

The Department of Health continues to investigate clusters of the virus and, in its biweekly report released Thursday, warned that the virus was spreading in workplaces where adequate precautions weren’t being taken. State health officials in September tracked a cluster of seven COVID-19 cases in an industrial work setting in Maui County. Five unvaccinated employees tested positive for the virus, which also infected two unvaccinated children who were household members. The children were not eligible for the vaccine.

State health officials have repeatedly stressed that the best way to protect children who are not old enough to be vaccinated is for household members to get vaccinated.

The Health Department concluded that the cluster of cases emerged when an infected employee went to work where he was symptomatic for four days. The employee likely exposed others when he rode to work with co-workers in the same truck.

Health officials also ­investigated a cluster of 31 COVID-19 cases linked to a transportation service on Oahu. Thirteen employees tested positive for COVID-19, and two others are believed to have contracted the virus based on their symptoms. Just one of the employees was fully vaccinated, and another employee was partially vaccinated. One unvaccinated employee was hospitalized. The infected employees spread the virus to close contacts.

The Department of Health found that the company didn’t ensure that close contacts of the infected workers quarantined, resulting in more transmission within the workplace. Employees who are close contacts and unvaccinated must quarantine at home for 10 days and get tested for the virus.

The report recommends that employers offer paid sick days so employees don’t come to work while infectious or during the period when they are supposed to be quarantining and urges workers to get vaccinated. Employees who are vaccinated against COVID-19 and don’t have symptoms are exempt from quarantine if they’ve had a known exposure.

The report also identified nine clusters in educational settings, including five clusters in Maui County that resulted in 45 cases. Two of the clusters were in Kauai County, which resulted in 63 cases, 36 of which were linked to outside of the educational settings.

Overall, Hawaii’s COVID-19 case count has continued to trend downward, as have hospitalizations, though the state continues to see a high number of deaths related to the virus. On Thursday the Health Department reported 332 new cases statewide and a seven-day test positivity rate of 3.9%.

Health officials also reported 12 deaths, including 10 on Oahu and two on Hawaii island. They ranged in age from a man in his 30s and two women in their 40s to four people in their 80s. Three people died at home, while the rest were hospitalized.

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