Hawaii has 7th highest vaccination rate in United States

HONOLULU (AP) - Hawaii has given more than half of a million COVID-19 vaccines as of Wednesday.

Nearly 560,000 shots have been administered in the islands according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID data tracker, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Thursday.

Data shows the state ranks seventh in the nation for vaccinations with a rate of 39,489 doses per 100,000 residents.

Lt. Gov. Josh Green said the state by April 1 hopes to reach a total of 600,000 shots, and 900,000 by May 1. He said about 10,000 vaccines are being put in arms each day.

“It’s a big milestone that keeps us on track,” he said. “All of which bodes very well for us because we’re rapidly increasing our immunity.”

The total includes vaccinations by the military and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

“The vaccination process has accelerated each month and we will meet the president’s request to open up vaccines to all of our state by May 1 - that’s our goal,” Green said.

Hawaii is behind only Alaska at 47,295 per 100,000; New Mexico at 46,914; South Dakota at 43,518; North Dakota at 42,674; Connecticut at 41,612; and Vermont at 39,530.

“I hope that we can see a really quick uptick in our vaccine allocation and that it won’t take us as long to get to 1 million doses administered as it took us to get to 500,000,” said Health Director Libby Char. “We want to vaccinate as many as we can. We are well on our way.”

About 12.7% of Hawaii’s 1.4 million residents have received both shots and vaccinated and 21% have had at least one dose, according to state health data.

Department of Health spokesman Brooks Baehr said the per capita number is artificially low because children 15 and younger are included but not yet not eligible for the vaccine.

“As good as the numbers look, we’re doing even better,” he said.

Health officials warn that people must remain vigilant and follow safety measures such as wearing a mask and practicing social distancing.

“People don’t seem to be as cautious right now,” Char said. “We’re seeing huge increases in visitor numbers. And it’s not just visitors, it’s also returning residents. People are out and about,”

“There is an upswing in the number of COVID infections in many parts of Europe including Italy, France and Germany.,” Char said. “We really need to be cautious so that doesn’t happen here.”

Hawaii on Saturday had its highest number of arriving travelers in a single day since the pandemic began.