Hawaii surpasses 1 million fully vaccinated against COVID-19

More than 1 million people in Hawaii are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the state Department of Health announced Wednesday.

“It’s great to see so many people in Hawaii follow the science,” Health Director Dr. Elizabeth Char said in a news release. “We are thrilled that over a million people are fully vaccinated. That leaves an estimated 420,000 people who are not yet fully vaccinated. We are still averaging about 120 new COVID-19 cases every day.”

DOH is encouraging the roughly 119,000 people who have received only one shot of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines to get their second shot as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Getting that second shot is critical,” Char said. “Those who do not get it are at greater risk of severe illness.”

The department has said that it continues to prioritize first and second shots and getting people fully vaccinated while it also works to roll out a booster shot program for kupuna and higher-risk individuals.

As of Wednesday, 70.4 percent of the population statewide had completed vaccination, according to DOH data.

Hawaii is averaging 119 new cases a day and a test positivity rate of 1.7 percent, which health officials have said is an improvement over the hundreds of cases a day the state saw in August and September but “still too soon to let our guard down,” Char said earlier this month.

An estimated 94,051 eligible residents have not initiated vaccination, according to the DOH. An estimated 207,482 children ages 11 and younger are not yet eligible.

For more information on vaccination opportunities, visit hawaiicovid19.com/vaccineinfo/. A list of vaccination sites in Maui County is also available at mauinuistrong.info.