LIHU‘E — County and state employees have until Aug. 16 to provide proof of vaccination or face weekly COVID-19 tests at their own cost.
Gov. David Ige signed a new emergency COVID-19 proclamation with the support of county mayors to “protect the health, safety and welfare” of the community, Ige said at a Honolulu press conference Thursday afternoon.
Mayor Derek Kawakami called the government intervention “necessary” as the state faces a surge in COVID-19 infections related to the delta variant.
“We’re back in a place where we have to adjust and pivot very quickly,” Kawakami said Thursday. “Many of us didn’t anticipate the impact this delta variant would have.”
About 60% of Kaua‘i’s total population is inoculated, according to state Department of Health data, about on par with statewide numbers.
How many county employees are vaccinated or unvaccinated has not been collected, according to a county spokesperson.
“We don’t have specific data (as up to this point employees were not asked to report that information) but we estimate more than half of county employees are vaccinated,” a county spokesperson said. “With the Governor’s new Emergency Proclamation, we will be collecting that information and should have a more specific percentage by Aug. 16.”
How this mandate will be enforced going forward was not formally outlined as of print, other than that employees will be required to show proof of vaccination to supervisors or an affidavit for a medical and religious exemption. Weekly COVID-19 testing would not be provided by the state or county.
“There are many moving parts to make sure that we can operationalize this task so we will be answering questions as we figure things out rather quickly,” Kawakami said.
Unions including United Pubic Workers, Hawai‘i Government Employees Association, Hawai‘i State Teachers Association and the University of Hawai‘i Professional Assembly would have their members affected.
Earlier this week, the unions met with the state’s chief negotiators expressing willingness to move forward with required vaccinations.
Union leaders voiced that many members have already been vaccinated and it shouldn’t be up for the employer to hold termination over employees.
“The emergency proclamation will impact our members’ working conditions and the employer must bargain those impacts with the appropriate collective bargaining units,” the public unions said in a joint statement. “Details on how tests will be administered, how results will be kept confidential, and how the state will fund this mandate will need to be negotiated with the state and we look forward to having those discussions right away.”
Ige’s proclamation does not extend the state’s eviction moratorium but does continue the state’s indoor mask mandate as well as the Safe Travels program, which requires either a 72-hour pre-travel test to avoid a 10-day quarantine or proof of vaccination in the United States. The proclamation ends the limited suspension of the state’s open records law, but does allow boards and commissions to continue meeting virtually.
The proclamation also extends the suspension of licensing requirements for select professionals that mean certain conditions, like medical professionals. An extension of expirations for driver’s licenses, state IDs, and instructional permits has also been allowed.
Ige said that the last few months have changed the trajectory of COVID-19 on the islands.
“A few months ago, we were proceeding and progressing in our fight against COVID-19,” Ige said during the press conference. “Vaccination rates were very high in Hawai‘i and going strong. The number of COVID-19 cases were shrinking as our entire community responded to the actions needed in order to slow COVID-19 here in Hawai‘i.”
Since then, Ige said, “much has changed. Today the number of cases and hospitalizations are all trending up dramatically. The highly contagious delta variant creates a big risk of infection, especially for members of our community who are not vaccinated.”
Thursday, the state reported the highest single-day case count at 655 new infections reported across the island chain. There are 155 in the hospital, according to the Department of Health.
The same day of this announcement, the state’s House of Representatives imposed a vaccination requirement for members and staff, beginning Sept. 30. Like this proclamation, those who are unvaccinated must undergo a weekly COVID-19 test.
“The House of Representatives’ top priority is the health and safety of Hawai‘i residents. The most effective way to make this clear is to impose a vaccination requirement upon ourselves. State government must take the lead to protect Hawai‘i residents,” Speaker Scott Saiki said in a statement.
Is this nazi germany on repeat?
No Yellow Idiot, it’s not Nazi Germany. Even suggesting that it is anything like what the Nazi’s did reveals that you are ignorant, un-educated and brainwashed. Did you go to school?
Oh wait, I just noticed you called yourself an idiot. Now I get it.
And you are the smartest person in Kauai with also the answers.
Tell me this, why did 200 doctors die in India after receiving the vaccination?
Were you in Germany when the same things started happening as it is in modern America?
Do you believe every facebook post you see? No 200 doctors didn’t die in india after receiving the vaccination. Tell me, why would they? Do you even have a tiny idea of how vaccines work? If you did you wouldn’t believe such obvious bs.
And if you paid attention in school, you have learned that in Nazi germany they rounded up the jews and murdered them, which killed people. That is just a tiny bit different than having people wear masks or take vaccines that save lives.
Yes it is Nazi Germany. Those that don’t study history repeat it. No fly list for the unvaxxed, internment camps for the unvaxxed, no groceries for the unvaxxed…people in high places proposing this crap. DOJ saying that mandates are legal when they are not. Lord Jesus is coming soon…don’t fret
Comply or go broke.
This is completely unconstitutional and in violation of HIPPA rights, forcing people to to disclose their health information and be penalized for it is wrong and illegal, it has already been proven that you can still contract and spread Covid while vaccinated, the vaccine only protects the one who is vaccine, but we are finding that it doesn’t even do that, so why the mandate? I’m tired of these “emergency mandates”, Hawaii is becoming a dictatorship, this doesn’t feel like a free country anymore..
First of all it’s HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability
and Accountability Act of 1996), not HIPPA
HIPAA gives us the right to access our health information, and rules that govern health providers handling of your health information.
Second of all, you’re wrong about how HIPAA works, and what you think is unconstitutional or illegal. And, exactly how are you being penalized? By being subjected to frequent Covid tests if you’re not vaccinated? That you don’t have the right to infect others? Of course it’s possible to still get Covid if you’re vaccinated – that’s not news. The vaccines only have 90-95% efficacy, but the vaccine also to protects you if you do get Covid, by having a milder case and preventing death in over 99% of cases. The reason for breakthrough cases is that although unvaccinated people were supposed to continue wearing masks, most of them aren’t (I’m not referring to Kauai, but rather the many places on the mainland being called ‘hotspots’), and since there’s no way to tell who is or isn’t vaccinated because we can’t ask, unvaccinated don’t even have the decency to social distance. What did you think would happen? With the Delta variant being so much more transmissible, and many vaccinated people unknowingly in close proximity to unmasked & unvaccinated people, yes, it’s going to spread. Now the unvaccinated are happy because they can yell from the mountain top “SEE THE VACCINATED ARE SPREADING COVID”. Yea, because so many of them don’t have the decency to keep their distance and don’t care if they infect others. So, now vaccinated people will just have to keep wearing masks. It’s a small price to pay for freedom from being enslaved by conspiracy theories and being manipulated by fearing mongering about violated “HIPPA” rights and the loss of freedom. For that to be a thing you have to be so gullible to the B.S. that you forget that this is about fighting to stop a health crisis and preventing anymore unnecessary deaths. Thanks a lot for putting the community safety before your personal comfort.
Now grow up.
Here’s an excerpt from HIPAA as it relates to your employer.
THE FOLLOWING WAS COPIED FROM THE WEBSITE https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa:
Employers and Health Information in the Workplace:
The Privacy Rule controls how a health plan or a covered health care provider shares your protected health information with an employer.
Employment Records:
The Privacy Rule does not protect your employment records, even if the information in those records is health-related. In most cases, the Privacy Rule does not apply to the actions of an employer.
If you work for a health plan or a covered health care provider:
a) The Privacy Rule does not apply to your employment records.
b) The Rule does protect your medical or health plan records if you are a patient of the provider or a member of the health plan.
Requests from your employer:
Your employer can ask you for a doctor’s note or other health information if they need the information for sick leave, workers’ compensation, wellness programs, or health insurance.
However, if your employer asks your health care provider directly for information about you, your provider cannot give your employer the information without your authorization unless other laws require them to do so.
Generally, the Privacy Rule applies to the disclosures made by your health care provider, not the questions your employer may ask.
Source: https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-individuals/employers-health-information-workplace/index.html.
You can learn all about HIPAA there (hey, there’s a novel idea – learning about something before crying about your rights being violated or claiming something is unconstitutional (you might want to read the constitution too, it makes no mention of HIPAA). Just because you heard some lunatic congressperson (who can’t even get the acronym right) crying about her “HIPPA” rights being violated doesn’t make it true, you’d know that if you bothered to fact check it.
For real facts about Covid and the vaccines, plus all the rumors debunked, try mayoclinic.org or hopkinsmedicine.org websites, or even KFF.org (Kaiser).
Inquiring minds would like to know Derek….have you been vaccinated? Has your Daughter and wife been vaccinated? Since you clearly are qualified for making medical decisions for others what’s your finding on those who have had covid recovered and will carry the antibodies for up to 14 months and counting? Are you going to force those who have severe allergies to get it as well when even the manufactures of said non FDA approved medical procedure recommended against it. You are the mayor! Not a Doctor. even if you’re advised by “health officials” you have no jurisdiction on making this mandatory.
Hey Kauai – you have no freaking clue about HIPAA. First of all, it’s not HIPPA it’s HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability and Act) – lol. Secondly, vaccines have been around since small pox and polio (and diphtheria and typhoid, etc, and vaccine mandates have been in place since all of those (can’t get in to school without them) and measles and mumps too. Get a grip. Or read a book. Or get TF off Facebook.
A REUTERS SPECIAL REPORT
The ex-Pfizer scientist who became an anti-vax hero
Retired scientist Michael Yeadon. REUTERS Illustration/via YouTube
Michael Yeadon was a scientific researcher and vice president at drugs giant Pfizer Inc. He co-founded a successful biotech. Then his career took an unexpected turn.
By STEVE STECKLOW and ANDREW MACASKILL in LONDON Filed March 18, 2021, 11 a.m. GMT
Late last year, a semi-retired British scientist co-authored a petition to Europe’s medicines regulator. The petitioners made a bold demand: Halt COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials.
Better yet, mayor Kawakami, show the public proof that you and your family have been vaccinated. You are asking all the state and county employees to show proof. If you want to persuade your employees you should be the first to step up and be counted. Rules for thee but not for me?
It’s about time. And if people want to go into a gov building I say prove you are vaccinated. Why should the vaccinated have to make concessions to the people who refuse to vaccinate.! If you refuse “free” shots you should refuse hospitalization by the government.
This is a good mandate, but the timing could have been better. We returned to full-capacity, in-person learning on Tuesday; the mandate came Thursday. The time for this measure was a month ago, before school started. While states like Texas and Florida have it far worse, public safety measures should not be an afterthought. Also, without mandating student vaccinations, the schools reopening is a risk.
Why does Kauai and Hawaii in general continue to move backwards while other states are completely open and do not require vaccines or masks, yet are not descending into chaos?
I see that a writer above is confused about HIPPA. It has nothing to do with the county. It applies to health plans, health care clearinghouses, and health care providers who electronically transmit any health information.
People will give up their civil liberties for the name of manipulation.
You sheep just don’t know.
Dr. Robert Malone, the inventor of the mRNA and DNA vaccine core platform technology:
“With the mass vaccination campaign in full effect, Malone was also disturbed that it is considered OK by the government to entice children to get vaccinated by offering them free ice cream or doughnuts, and even allowing children to get vaccinated without their parents’ consent.
He soon ventured into the bioethics of the emergency use authorization (EUA) granted to COVID-19 vaccines. Experimentation without proper informed consent violates the Nuremberg Code,4 which spells out a set of research ethics principles for human experimentation.
This set of principles was developed to ensure the medical horrors discovered during the Nuremberg trials at the end of World War II would never take place again, but in the current climate of extreme censorship, people are not being informed about the full risks of the vaccines — which are only beginning to be uncovered.
Further, due to the EUA, adults aren’t required to sign informed consent documents and, at the same time, aren’t being given a full disclosure of the risks that would normally be given during a clinical trial5 — and, at this point, anyone who receives the vaccine is participating as a research subject.”
RG DeSoto
Not sure why you internet doctors keep saying that the vaccines haven’t been through clinical trials yet and we are research subjects blah blah blah. If you spent a little time reading actual reports on what was done to speed up the testing you would see that all the safety tests happened, time was saved by cutting the line in the review process and putting covid vaccines as the priority.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/covid-coronavirus-vaccine-development-speed
Also the technology for these vaccines has been in development well before covid. Its just modified to work for covid. If you make a new flavor of jello, is it for some reason going to be unsafe because its new? Maybe you should read things from sources other than your social media groups?
Sometimes we have to do what benefits our community.
Lose your job over a vaccine ?
You can get easy access FREE Vaccines, but not easy access, for most island locations, NOT FREE Testing.
The Vaccines as we all know have serious risks involved, whereas test has no risk.
As well, if you test weekly and if you test positive you can immediately stay home for 2 weeks and you will undergo the natural immune process. Then after 2 weeks you will become both Immune (protected) from the virus or variant, and also Non-contagious, making you part of Herd Immunity. Herd Immunity causes the epidemic/pandemic fade out of the population.
Risking taking the vaccines is not the best idea, considering people are dying from the vaccine, developing blood clots in the brain, miscarriages, tremors, and more.
Being tested has zero risk, but will early notify you, if you test positive, to stay home for the 2 weeks, and let run the natural immune process in order to protect others from infection, and make yourself naturally become immune (protected) from another infection by the same virus, and become Non-Contagious.
In order to be registered with the FDA, a vaccine’s injected ingredients must contain either an active or inactive virus matching the bio-identical markers (like a fingerprint match) of either the Covid or or its “daughter” mutated variant, the Delta virus variant, or any other variant.
Only the Astrazeneca shot has a virus in it, a chimpanzee virus, which will not work against Covid or Delta, since a chimpanzee virus is not bio-identical to the Covid or Delta virus. But Astrazeneca is registered as a Vaccine, having a virus ingredient.
Also the Covid Vaccine, if there actually was one, will not work against the Delta virus, first because the Pfizer/Moderna injections and the Johnson and Johnson (J&J) jabs have no active or inactive virus in them, therefore they are not Vaccines at all, but are deceptively called “jabs” and “stabs” as it would be a lie to call them Vaccines.
So if they, Pfizer/Moderna and J&J, are NOT vaccines, what are they? Your guess is as good as the rest of the world’s civilians. The jabs and stabs contain messenger RNA, but they also have spike proteins that are now known to cause dangerous side effects of blood clots in the small blood vessels in the brain.
The blood clots are a surprise unintended side effect.
Pfizer/Moderna are registered as a Experimental gene treatment, but not much has been shared with the public as to what are they treating our genes with or for what. Mystery? Why should it be a secret.
The Chinese vaccine, SinoVac, uses an inactivated Covid virus, like the same vaccine theory used in the Polio vaccine way back when. We are not informed of the performance of the Chinese vaccine, but it is a vaccine and it uses the Covid virus to activate antibodies to attack the Covid virus. Maybe they are 1 step ahead of us. Who knows!
Our media is not even telling us about the majority of Covid deaths, are they vaccinated? What are the diseases those people have, like obesity, heart, stroke, high blood pressure, cancer, etc.; and how many prescription drugs, 5, 10, 15, a day are they taking with multiple doses each, is it handfuls of poison drugs for decades of year, and then you are dead.
Blame the virus, but never blame the drugs, doctors, and pharmaceutical companies. J&J Pharm, is sued for and must pay $Billions to women and children for cancer their drugs caused, while they knew cancer was inevitable from their drugs.
And we trust them now?
And to pay the $Billions they’ll let the Jab and Stab injections you waited in line for, and your taxes paid for, to pay for those $Billions in losses in the lawsuits.
If you are taking long term prescription drugs, you are not getting well and healthy, you are getting less well and less healthy, your immune system is being burdened with the toxic drugs, and making your immune system less able to handle infectious virus of any kind.
And now that the natural virus, that mutated from Covid, has arrived, that is, the Delta variant, which is a mutation of the Covid virus, are they going to make a whole new jab, or just wink, and tell you to take a booster jab/stab of the original experimental drug against Covid, that so far is evident that vaccinated people, in high percentages, are still getting covid infections as “breakthroughs” of the Covid virus.
Meaning the jabs and stabs are not working, and the vaccinated people are able to pass the virus on to others because they never became non-contagious.
Perhaps you belong in a southern state that doesn’t require masks or vaccinations. They are doing great at curbing the covid there!