The number of coronavirus cases in Hawaii shot up to yet another single-day record high of 4,789 Thursday, the highest since the pandemic began, and more than twice the number on Tuesday.
Statewide, the average positivity rate — or percentage of those testing positive for COVID-19 — rose to a new high of 18.5% Thursday.
New single-day case records were also set for individual islands, including 3,245 for Oahu, 508 on Hawaii island, 676 on Maui, 41 on Molokai and 213 on Kauai.
“We’re setting new records every day,” said DOH spokesman Brooks Baehr, noting the number as the highest for a Thursday. “Buckle up and mask up, because we are on an upward trend. Get boosted because this roller coaster is still climbing.”
In the midst of the surge, health officials and government leaders have come to one consensus: that more Hawaii residents need to get COVID-19 boosters.
Baehr said the department has flooded airwaves with radio and television spots, along with print ads and social media posts about the importance of getting boosters, and is still urging people to get boosted.
More than 200,000 vaccine doses are available in the state, so supply is not an issue, he said, and plenty of sites are offering them.
DOH Director Dr. Elizabeth Char has called boosters “one of the best tools to combat omicron.”
Studies have shown the initial series of vaccines, whether it was Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson, have all waned and are not as protective against the highly contagious omicron variant predominant in the state.
The booster will ramp up those antibody levels again to help protect against omicron.
As of Thursday, 74.6% of Hawaii’s population had completed COVID-19 vaccinations, with only 26.6% boosted.
DOH recently broadened eligibility for boosters, based on U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, and they are now recommended for children as young as 12.
Those ages 12 to 17 should get a Pfizer booster five months after competing their initial Pfizer vaccine series. Those ages 18 and up should also get a booster if they completed their initial Pfizer vaccines series five instead of six months ago.
Hawaii Pacific Health is offering Pfizer COVID-19 booster shots for children ages 12-15 at its medical center vaccine clinics and mobile events by appointment only at HawaiiPacificHealth.org/COVID19 Vaccine.
To date, only 4.1% of those ages 12-17 have been boosted, in part due to lack of eligibility. Only 12.6% of those ages 18-24, and 16.1% of those ages 25-39 have been boosted.
All eyes are on hospitalizations, which officials agree is a key metric in gauging COVID-19’s impact on the state.
On Thursday, Lt. Gov. Josh Green shared to social media that 215 COVID-19-positive patients were hospitalized in Hawaii, including 178 on Oahu and 37 on neighbor isles. Of that total, 101, or about 47%, are vaccinated without boosters.
There were also six children hospitalized with COVID-19, up from three on Wednesday, he said.
The state’s COVID-19 dashboard listed 235 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 on Thursday, with 23 in intensive care and 12 on ventilators.
Hilton Raethel, president and CEO of the Healthcare Association of Hawaii, said hospitalizations are expected to continue growing as case counts rise.
There has so far been a lower proportion of patients — 10% to 12% — ending up in intensive care during this surge, compared with about 20% to 30% during the height of the delta surge over the summer, he said, resulting in shorter stays.
Hospitals, however, are also dealing with staffing shortage as nurses and other personnel get infected with the virus, making them unable to work. The state and HAH have requested help from more than 900 additional personnel funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help care for COVID-19 patients.
The state’s hospitalization numbers include coronavirus patients who tested positive during inpatient screenings but were admitted for other reasons, not solely due to illness from COVID-19 infections — estimated to be at least 20% of patients.
Raethel said these patients are counted and still treated by hospitals as infectious, requiring the same staffing ratios.
Hawaii health experts do not believe the state has reached its peak number of cases yet and do not all agree on when that might be.
The Hawaii Pandemic Applied Modeling Work Group, made up of volunteer scientists, has forecast coronavirus cases rising up to 10,000 in Honolulu next week using calculations based on the assumption omicron is 2.5 times more transmissible than delta. Hospitalizations are forecast to reach 300 to 400 by Monday.
The forecasts come with a cone of uncertainty that includes lower and higher possibilities. HiPAM says boosters and human behavior could change the trajectory.
DOH on Thursday also reported four new deaths — all on Oahu — bringing Hawaii’s COVID-19 death toll to 1,098.
NEW ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR COVID-19 BOOSTERS
DOH recommends boosters for the following:
>> A Pfizer booster for those ages 12 to 17 who completed their initial Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine series at least five months ago
>> An mRNA booster (Pfizer or Moderna) for those ages 18 and older who completed their initial series of Pfizer at least five months ago
>> An additional dose of the Pfizer vaccine for moderately to severely immunocompromised children, ages 5-11, 28 days after their second shot
Source: State Department of Health
