HONOLULU – The Hawai‘i Department of Health encourages people to celebrate the holidays safely by taking simple steps to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses. “The past few years COVID-19 illness increased during the holidays after people got together to celebrate,” said State Health Director Dr. Elizabeth Char, FACEP. “We encourage celebrations, ...
Read More Celebrate a COVID-19 free holiday by taking simple safety precautions
COVID-19
HONOLULU – The Hawai‘i Department of Health has placed orders to supply participating healthcare providers with updated COVID-19 bivalent vaccines for children as young as six months of age. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued emergency use authorization for keiki-sized vaccines Thursday, December 8. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expanded the use ...
Read More Updated COVID-19 vaccines for children as young as 6 months coming soon
HONOLULU – The Hawai‘i Department of Health (DOH) announces the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted emergency use authorization for the COVID-19 booster by Novavax and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and DOH are allowing use of the COVID-19 booster by Novavax. Novavax monovalent COVID-19 boosters are recommended for adults 18 and older for ...
Read More Novavax COVID-19 boosters available in Hawai‘i
HONOLULU – The Department of Health (DOH) recommends COVID-19 bivalent booster vaccines for everyone age five and older. Bivalent boosters are the first COVID-19 vaccinations designed specifically to protect against original COVID-19 and the most common forms of COVID-19 in Hawai‘i, the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants. The BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants account for almost ...
Read More COVID-19 bivalent boosters recommended for children five and older
HONOLULU – The Department of Health (DOH) published a COVID-19 Wastewater Report on Thursday, September 29. The report shows COVID-19 cases have declined since early June and the Omicron subvariant BA.5 is the dominant strain of COVID-19 in Hawai‘i. “Data from wastewater testing aligns with other data sets,” said State Laboratories Division (SLD) Administrator Edward ...
Read More Wastewater data consistent with important COVID-19 metrics
HONOLULU – The Department of Health (DOH) is enhancing the Hawai‘i COVID-19 data dashboard to include reinfections. The percentage of COVID-19 cases involving individuals who had a prior infection is growing over time and now accounts for about 10% of new confirmed cases. “The data on reinfections underscores what we have been saying; that limited ...
Read More COVID-19 reinfection rate rising
HONOLULU – The Hawai‘i Department of Health (DOH) recommends the use of the first bivalent booster vaccines designed specifically to protect against original COVID-19 and the most common forms of COVID-19 in Hawai‘i, the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants. The BA.5 subvariant accounts for an estimated 91% of the COVID-19 cases in Hawai‘i. The BA.4 ...
Read More New bivalent COVID-19 boosters offer enhanced protection
LIHUE – The Department of Health’s (DOH) Kaua‘i District Health Office released the preliminary report of its July Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPER) survey to assess the community’s perception of Kauaʻi’s COVID-19 response efforts and current emergency preparedness level. “The results of this survey show us that Kaua‘i residents continue to feel ...
Read More Kaua‘i District Health Office survey finds majority remain concerned about COVID-19
HONOLULU – The Hawai‘i Department of Health announces scheduling opportunities for the COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Novavax. Novavax is a two-dose primary series vaccine for individuals 18 and older. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends administering the second dose three to eight weeks after the first. Novavax is a protein subunit vaccine. It ...
Read More Novavax COVID-19 vaccine available in Hawai‘i
LIHUE – The Department of Health’s (DOH) Kaua‘i District Health Office will conduct a Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPER) survey to assess the community’s perception of Kauaʻi’s COVID-19 response efforts and current emergency preparedness level. “The responses will help us understand the community’s perception of our COVID-19 response efforts over the past ...
Read More Kaua‘i District Health Office to conduct survey to assess COVID-19 response efforts & emergency preparedness
HONOLULU – The Hawai‘i Department of Health (DOH) is adopting the CDC recommendation that Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine be used as an option for children and adolescents ages 6 through 17 years. The COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech is already available for people in this age group. “Vaccine eligibility is now simple and easy to understand. ...
Read More Moderna vaccine now an option for children ages 6-17
Parents encouraged to explore vaccination opportunities HONOLULU – The Hawai‘i Department of Health (DOH) is excited to announce long awaited COVID-19 vaccines for keiki under the age of five will soon be available. DOH is authorizing enrolled COVID-19 vaccination providers to administer the vaccines as soon as they become available. DOH is expecting delivery of ...
Read More Children under five eligible for COVID-19 vaccines
HONOLULU – The Hawai‘i Department of Health (DOH) salutes the Class of 2022. DOH recognizes the importance of graduations and what they mean to Hawai’i families. DOH encourages graduates and their families to celebrate safely. Here are tips to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 while honoring our graduates. Celebrate outdoors Wear masks outdoors if ...
Read More Celebrate graduates safely
HONOLULU – The Hawai‘i Department of Health (DOH) is adopting guidance from the CDC recommending boosters for children ages 5 through 11 and strengthening booster recommendations for others. Children ages 5 through 11 are encouraged to receive a COVID-19 booster shot five months after their initial Pfizer-BioNTech vaccination. “It’s exciting that children 5 to 11 ...
Read More Keiki ages 5-11 eligible for COVID-19 boosters, Second booster shots recommended for 50+ and immunocompromised
HONOLULU – The Hawai‘i Department of Health (DOH) is adopting the most recent guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regarding COVID-19 booster shots. Effective immediately, people who received their first booster shot at least four months ago may receive a second booster shot of an mRNA vaccine (Pfizer or Moderna) if: ...
Read More Additional booster shots available
HONOLULU – The Hawai‘i Department of Health (DOH) is transitioning from daily to weekly COVID-19 data reporting effective immediately. Case counts and vaccination updates will be published on the DOH COVID-19 dashboard every Wednesday beginning March 16. “Our decisions have always been based on trends, not single day counts. There is greater focus now on ...
Read More State moves to weekly COVID data reporting
HONOLULU – The Hawai’i Department of Health (DOH), in partnership with the Honolulu Police Department (HPD) and Hawaii National Guard, is providing free COVID-19 testing at HPD’s Downtown Substation Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. Tests are conducted on a first come first serve basis. Appointments are not accepted. This location has the ...
Read More Free COVID testing available in Chinatown
HONOLULU – The Hawai‘i Department of Health (DOH) has a new hotline for people with questions about COVID-19. What should I do if I test positive? What should I do if I have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive? Who can get a booster shot? Those questions and more can be ...
Read More New COVID-19 hotline
HONOLULU – The Hawai‘i Department of Health (DOH) has revised its reporting of the number of COVID-19 vaccination series completed and booster doses administered in Hawai‘i. The revisions are the result of a DOH review of vaccination reporting. Some booster doses administered to people who had received an initial Johnson & Johnson vaccine had been ...
Read More Revised data shows increase in boosters administered & decrease in vaccinations completed
HONOLULU – The Hawai‘i Department of Health (DOH) will temporarily stop reporting specific data sets on Sunday, January 16 so its data collection and reporting system can continue to accurately process the thousands of positive tests recorded at laboratories daily. DOH systems have not been able to process the large volume of positive and negative ...
Read More Surging COVID-19 case counts & test volume force changes to data reporting and case investigation