Question: Now that children ages 5 to 11 can be vaccinated against COVID-19, will they be required to show proof of vaccination to enter restaurants, etc., on Oahu?
Answer: No, not yet, although the city will consider it. “Children ages 5 to 11 are currently not required to show proof of vaccination as part of the Safe Access O‘ahu program. As the vaccine rollout progresses, the city is monitoring important metrics and evaluating whether to require children to show proof of vaccination,” Tim Sakahara, spokesman for Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi, said in an email Tuesday.
Safe Access O‘ahu is the program that requires certain types of entertainment, recreation, dining, drinking and fitness establishments in Honolulu County to screen customers for COVID-19 by requiring them to present proof of vaccination or a negative test to enter. Read more at oneoahu.org.
When the program began, COVID-19 vaccination was not allowed for children under 12, and they were excluded from the Safe Access requirements.
The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was subsequently authorized for children ages 5 to 11, and has been available to that age group in Hawaii since Nov. 2, according to the state Department of Health.
Q: My local calls are still going through fine without the 808 area code. What happened?
A: You are referring to Hawaii’s switch to 10-digit dialing, which the Federal Communications Commission and telephone service providers had said would occur on Oct. 24. Officials now say that although 10-digit dialing is available now, service providers have until mid-July to disable 7-digit dialing, and didn’t do so all at once. The readers we’ve heard from said they’re Hawaiian Telcom customers, so we followed up with Ann Nishida, a company spokeswoman:
”Since this change was announced earlier this year, the FCC’s guidance for consumers has always been to start 10-digit dialing on Oct. 24, 2021, to ensure that calls will be connected. All service providers in Hawaii were required to make the necessary adjustments to enable 10-digit dialing statewide and to communicate the Oct. 24, 2021, date to our customers and to the news media. A timeline for the process to disable 7-digit dialing will vary by service provider.”
She wouldn’t say when Hawaiian Telcom would complete the process, and referred us to the FCC for more information.
We let the agency know that some Hawaii residents felt misled, or “pranked” as one reader put it, after updating devices to add the 808 area code ahead of what the FCC and telephone service providers had said was the deadline. Katie L. Gorscak, a spokeswoman for the FCC, emailed the following response:
“To clarify regarding the timeline, beginning Oct. 24, 2021, consumers should dial 10 digits (area code + telephone number) for all local calls. Some providers have already implemented 10-digit dialing and some are phasing in 10-digit dialing between Oct. 24, 2021, and July 15, 2022. On July 15, 2022, all providers must complete this process in all of the affected area codes in their service areas.”
Q: What was the maximum duration for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance?
A: 79 weeks, according to the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations’ Unemployment Division. PUA, for people not eligible for traditional unemployment insurance, expired Sept. 6.
Q: What’s the website to make an appointment to get a state ID? Everybody always asks about driver’s licenses, but I need a state ID.
A: It’s alohaq.honolulu.gov, the same website used to make appointments to renew a Hawaii driver’s license. Click on the blue bar that says “Driver Licensing and Satellite Services” to get started. On subsequent steps, when selecting a location, be sure to choose a site that issues state IDs.
Mahalo
A belated mahalo to the gentleman in a red car who paid for our lunch at the Aina Haina McDonald’s drive-thru. We’d like to say “thank you” and wish him good health and happiness always. We need more people like him in this pandemic world. — Two seniors
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
