LIHU‘E — The state wants to ramp-up its vaccine rollout effort, but supplies have varied from week to week.
Last week, the state received about 59,000 dosages. This week, about 32,700 are incoming, split amongst island facilities, Lt. Gov. Josh Green reported during a Tuesday press conference. This amounts to about 18,000 first dosages each week.
“We all want it to move quickly,” Gov. David Ige said.
Ige assured residents that while demand far exceeds supply, there have been efforts to not let vaccines go to waste.
Green explained that some vaccines come in vials of five dosages, but sometimes a sixth dose can be extracted.
The state has over 40 partners, ranging from federal entities to local pharmacies, that are working to dole out the vaccine.
Currently, there are four ways the vaccine is getting out, including long-term-care facilities, smaller long-term care facilities and independent pharmacies, federally-qualified health-care centers and points of distribution like hospitals and clinics, state Department of Health Director Dr. Elizabeth Char said.
“As we vaccinate more of our community members, we will always be able to revive our economy and get people back to work. However, we are constrained by the number of vaccines that are allocated to the state of Hawai‘i by the federal government,” Ige said.
State Senate President Ron Kouchi applauded Dr. Janet Berreman, DOH Kaua‘i District Health Office Officer, and Mayor Derek Kawakami on the County of Kaua‘i’s rollout.
Kaua‘i County has reported over 5,000 have received their first vaccines. Many health-care workers have already received their second dose.
Currently, hospitals are making efforts to vaccinate kupuna over 75 and caregivers. Last week, educators and school staff were in line for their injections.
Thus far, groups that have been called up for the vaccine include health-care workers, first responders, educators and kupuna over 75. Next would be kupuna over 65 and those with chronic diseases.
Doctors, Journalists, and politicians are pushing the vaccine. more than regular professionals are pushing other drugs in the community.
Rush to action precludes sincere investigation of efficacy amd safety of this injection the FDA allows it only to be called an Experimental Gene Therapy, since it does not qualify as a vaccine.
An experimental procedure as a gene treatmemt treatment is of concern for such a rush to inaccurate judgement of necessity and value. It can also be a while for sóme of the ill side effects to occur.
By your comment, I see God leading you, May God bless you and your family in the now and the Hereafter.
We all want to get back to work. Unfortunately this island is dependent on tourism. And I don’t see Joe Biden increasing the minimum wage rate to $15/hour. This will not happen as more people richer ones will be forced to pay more state Unemployment tax. (SUTA). I believe they might have mentioned that here before. This is a tax imposed on the employer, as well as the employee portion of the tax. The employer pays the state tax on a higher rate. There also a FUTA section. The employer pays also for the federal part for its own operation. While the employee pays the federal tax, but some of it is refunded for the lower income status people. Any increase in minimum wage rate affects the business cycle through FUTA and SUTA, this is the employees portion of which the employer picks up the tab. The richer ones in the community will pay the government from which the businesses in the community cannot pay the employees part of the tax. In this event, there won’t be a raise in pay of minimum wage rate. I feel this will be the case and no legislature will be able to pass a law with out affecting the long term effects in economic growth or recession. The poorer will still save and therefore a recession may still come about of this minimum wage increase.