“After hearing the concerns of many in our community who are both for and against the vaccine passport program, we have concluded that it is simply not right for our island at this time,” Hawaiʻi County officials stated to Big Island Now Wednesday. However, county officials say they see the SMART card a “fantastic tool for businesses and entities looking to implement a ‘passport-like’ program.'” “We hope smart cards will keep the economy open while operating in a safe and healthy environment,” Murdock stated during the press conference.Īs of now, Hawai’i County has no plans to implement a vaccine passport program similar to what’s been done in Honolulu and Maui Counties. The Hawaiʻi SMART Health Card gives individuals a convenient option of presenting their vaccination status through a digital device rather than a physical CDC vaccination card or other documentation. Individuals who received two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or one dose of Johnson and Johnson, followed by a 14-day waiting period, are eligible for the digital card. The card will enable individuals who received their COVID-19 vaccinations in Hawaiʻi to create a state-issued digital Hawaiʻi SMART Health Card that may be used to confirm their vaccination status to businesses and venues that require it. The program is voluntary, “strictly a convenience” and begins Friday, Sept. David Ige along with Doug Murdock, chief information officer of Office of Enterprise Technology Services, unveiled the state’s Hawaiʻi SMART Health Card. Officials ask residents to visit the state’s vaccine registration page to find appointment times.The state will soon offer a new way to provide COVID-19 vaccination status as Honolulu and Maui Counties are set to begin a passport program, requiring such documentation before entering selected businesses and establishments. The Moderna vaccine is recommended for those who are at least 18. Food and Drug Administration for those age groups. The health department encouraged 16- and 17-year olds to schedule appointments to receive the Pfizer vaccine, which has received Emergency Use Authorization from the U.S. If you can’t get an appointment today, you’ll be able to get one in the near future.” “We don’t have enough to vaccinate everyone immediately, but you can schedule your shot now. “Schedule your vaccine as soon as you can,” state Health Director Elizabeth Char said in a press release. More than 1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the state. Vaccine eligibility opened to all Hawaii residents who are at least 16 years old as of Monday. Josh Green has previously said that the interisland passport should start May 1. The program must still be approved by the director of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, Kenneth Hara. Ige’s most recent emergency proclamation detailed plans for Hawaii’s vaccine passport. But the governor did say that allowing residents to travel between islands should give the state time to link its systems with national networks that CommonPass and Clear can access. ![]() Ige didn’t say specifically if that would be allowed or if those types of travelers would have to use a system separate from Hawaii residents. The state also needs to work out a system for tourists from the mainland who want to travel between islands. ![]() “If we can do it electronically, that could really speed (up) a lot of things,” Ige said. Ige said that CommonPass and Clear, two companies contracted to develop the passport program, were working on integrating vaccination records with the state’s Safe Travels program. Cory Lum/Civil Beat/2021ĭaily passenger arrivals to Hawaii have hovered around 20,000 in the past week, and Ige said trying to monitor everyone boarding flights and moving between islands also poses a logistical challenge for state officials. “That’s a bigger challenge, but we’re going to start with people vaccinated in the state of Hawaii first.” State officials are expected to announce more details on an interisland vaccine passport on Tuesday. “It gets a lot more complicated trying to verify vaccinations done in other states,” Ige said. However, it was not clear when vaccinated visitors from the mainland may also bypass the state’s quarantine rules. Under the vaccine passport being proposed, inoculated residents would be able to skip the test and the quarantine. Interisland travelers to Kauai, Maui and Hawaii counties must receive a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of departure or undergo a 10-day quarantine. David Ige said Monday during an interview with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s “Spotlight” program. State officials planned to announce more details on what the program will look like and how it will work on Tuesday, Gov. ![]() Hawaii residents traveling interisland may be the first users in the state of a so-called vaccine passport program that is expected to rollout in the next several weeks.
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