19 February 2021, 16:34 HST
* Updated February 19, 16:44
The director of health in Hawaii, dr. Elizabeth Char, announced today that the state will soon open COVID-19 vaccinations for 70-year-olds and older. Currently kūpuna 75 and older are eligible for vaccination.
‘We are still in phase 1b and we are not ready to go to phase 1c yet. But soon we welcome those 70 years and older to be vaccinated. “We know we still have kupuna workers and vital workers waiting to be vaccinated,” he said. Char said. “We have been vaccinating kūpuna since about mid-January, so we want to add 70 and older to keep vaccine uptake really fast.”
The Department of Health will announce when sites are willing to accept registration for this new age group.
However, the availability of vaccines is still affected by weather-related delays. 27,700 doses of the Moderna vaccine originally expected in the week of 15 February are being delayed due to ice storms on the continent.
DOH is awaiting news on when the dispatch will resume and when Moderna will send the overdue doses. The state expects to receive more than 50,000 doses for the week of February 22nd.