HONOLULU (KHON2) — A bigger rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine could begin for kupuna as soon as next week. Lieutenant Governor Josh Green says based on capacity, officials will start doing mass vaccinations beginning next Monday. Green says it looks like Hawaii Pacific Heath is ready to start at Pier 2 hopefully next week. The Queen’s Medical Center will be vaccinating kupuna at the Blaisdell Center starting on the Jan. 25.
“This way we will have tens of thousands of people go through it, maybe as many as 5,000 a day once we are reaching our peak in each site. And that means we can get through the 109,000 kupuna who are 75 and older quite quickly,” said Lt. Gov. Green.
Queen’s says the state will have a website where people can sign up as soon as Friday. Appointments are needed in order to be vaccinated.
“We’ll have employees set up to help you get your paperwork done on the front end and then walk you through, get you vaccinated and then we’ll have the 15 to 30 minute period that we want to observe you and make sure that you’re healthy,” said Jason Chang, President of the Queen’s Medical Center.
Adventist Health Castle on Oahu’s windward side and Maui Health are also offering kupuna who are 75 and older the COVID-19 vaccine. Wilcox Medical Center, which is located on Kauai, recently announced it will begin administering the vaccine to kupuna in that age group starting this Friday.
“So (for) neighbor islands at Molokai General Hospital, we will have the general vaccination clinic which will be at the hospital and North Hawaii Community Hospital has expanded its clinic and will be offering its Phase 1B, actually, they’re starting this week,” Chang said.
When people go in to get their first dose, they will also be scheduled for an appointment to get their second shot.
