February 19, 2021, 6:13 PM HST
Eligibility for vaccination is about to expand in Hawaii to a slightly younger population.
Health director Elizabeth Char announced Friday that the state will soon open COVID-19 vaccines to people 70 and older. Currently, kūpuna 75 or older are eligible for vaccination.
“We are still in phase 1B and we are not yet ready to enter phase 1C. But soon we would like to welcome those aged 70 or over who are vaccinated. We know we still have essential kūpuna and front-line workers waiting. be vaccinated, “said Dr. Char. “We’ve been vaccinating kūpuna since mid-January, so we’d like to add 70 or more to keep the vaccine uptake very quickly.”
The Department of Health will announce when sites are ready to accept registration for this new age group.
However, vaccine availability continues to be affected by weather-related delays. A total of 27,700 doses of the Modern vaccine that was initially expected in the week of February 15 are delayed due to ice storms on the mainland. DOH awaits news on when shipments will resume and when Moderna will ship the pending doses. The state expects to receive more than 50,000 doses by the week of Feb. 22.