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.
