- As COVID-19 cases decrease and vaccination rates climb, Hawaii is getting close to herd immunity levels.
- Officials say the islands’ isolation as well as its warmer weather and outdoor activities have been factors.
- The state also has travel safety protocols in place for visitors as well as Hawaiians traveling from island to island.
Hawaii may soon see a relative end to its COVID-19 pandemic, as some of its islands approach vaccination rates near potential herd immunity levels.
But despite a high vaccination rate — 61 percent of adults on the island of Kauai, for instance, have at least their first vaccine dose — the mask mandates are staying for now.
“Implementing these mandates are complicated. It’s something that we evaluate and look at all the data that we have and the best guidance from public health officials,” Hawaii Governor David Ige said at a press conference.
“I just wanted to remind everyone that as of today, only about 40 percent of Hawaii’s residents are fully vaccinated, which means the majority of us here in the islands are not vaccinated.”
The actual vaccination rate to achieve herd immunity for COVID-19 is unknown at present. Experts currently predict it’ll occur when anywhere between 70 and 90 percent of a population is vaccinated.
“It has to do when we vaccinate enough people that we actually slow the virus down [and] that we aren’t seeing sustained transmission,” Dr. Sarah Kemble, a Hawaii state epidemiologist, told Hawaii News Now.
“We appear to be on a path to full reopening,” Steve Seto, a brand consultant based in Honolulu, told Healthline. “In Hawaii, because of the weather and culture, a lot more daily activities happen outdoors. Our buildings are also much more airy and built for indoor-outdoor living, work, education, etc. So, in many ways it’s easier and safer for us to reopen safely, even before herd immunity.”
Hawaii’s current daily COVID-19 rate has hovered between 70 to 90 new cases daily as a 7-day rolling average recently, down from a height of 255 in August 2020, the New York Times coronavirus tracker shows.
Source: healthline