- Associated Press - Thursday, December 10, 2020

HONOLULU (AP) - Hawaii is expected to receive enough first doses of a COVID-19 vaccine for 81,000 people by the end of the month, officials said Thursday. The first shipments could arrive as early as next week.

First in line to receive the vaccine will be front-line healthcare workers and people who live in nursing homes and other group settings.

Dr. Elizabeth Char, the director of the state Department of Health, said she expects the state will be well into vaccinating the general population by summer, or possibly even sooner.

Char told reporters at a news conference that authorities are aiming to get at least 70% of the population vaccinated to reach a level of herd immunity that will prevent the coronavirus from easily spreading.

Hawaii authorities released the figure on the same day a U.S. government advisory panel endorsed widespread use of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine. In a 17-4 vote with one abstention, the Food and Drug Administration panel concluded that the vaccine from Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech appears safe and effective for emergency use in adults and teenagers 16 and over.

Char said Hawaii expected nearly 46,000 first doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 36,000 first doses of a vaccine created by Moderna and the National Institutes of Health. The FDA is expected to review the Moderna vaccine next week.

Both vaccines are administered over two shots. Second doses of both vaccines for the 81,000 initial recipients will be shipped later. The second dose of the Pfizer vaccine is administered

Char said Hawaii has 35,000 front-line healthcare workers and another 35,000 people living in long-term care and other close-quarter settings. First responders whose jobs put them at high risk of exposure to the disease are also expected to receive the vaccine with the first group.

Both Gov. David Ige and Lt. Gov. Josh Green said they would get the vaccine when it’s their turn to receive it.

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