DOH: Vaccination key to stay out of hospital

Hawaii officials monitor Mainland as cases again begin to rise

As the U.S. Mainland is seeing a rise in COVID-19 cases, including in states with high vaccination rates, a Hawaii health official said they are keeping an eye on the current situation and urged caution among residents.

“It’s definitely an indication to have caution that we aren’t out of the woods yet,” said state Epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Kemble on Friday.

The Associated Press reported Thursday that the delta variant is driving up COVID19 hospitalizations in the Mountain West and fueling outbreaks in the Northern U.S.

Kemble said as the holidays are coming up, those who are still not vaccinated should get the shot. She also said those who need a booster shot due to underlying health conditions and lifestyles or jobs that interact with the public should also get their additional shots, as they are available and there is “no supply issue.”

Kemble’s remarks came during a news conference Friday afternoon as the state Department of Health released its own data that shows that vaccines have proved effective in Hawaii in providing “excellent” protection against hospitalization and death.

Hawaii data on deaths that occurred from Jan. 1 through Sept. 30 found that fully vaccinated people ages 0 to 59 were 34 times less likely to die of COVID-19 than unvaccinated individuals. Fully vaccinated people age 60 and older were nine times less likely to die of COVID-19 than unvaccinated individuals.

“Vaccines work. More than one million Hawaii residents have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and are well-protected against hospitalization and death,” Kemble said in a news release. “Breakthrough infections are expected because no vaccine is 100 percent effective, but this new data mirrors national studies that show vaccinated people are wellprotected against COVID19.”

In the January-throughSeptember time period, DOH documented 36 deaths among fully vaccinated people in Hawaii and 146 hospitalizations. The overwhelming majority of COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths reported in the same period occurred among unvaccinated individuals, the DOH said.

Officials said that the delta variant did result in more frequency of breakthrough hospitalizations and deaths, but breakthrough events remained relatively uncommon compared to the total number of hospitalizations and deaths.

In the pre-delta variant period from Jan. 1 to June 30, there were 11 documented breakthrough hospitalizations and one breakthrough death. During that period, 96 percent of known breakthrough cases were not hospitalized.

In the delta variant period, there were 135 documented breakthrough hospitalizations and 35 breakthrough deaths, of which 31 were those ages 60 and above. During the delta period, 97 percent of known breakthrough cases were not hospitalized.

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