Half of Hawaii coronavirus vaccine awaiting distribution

HONOLULU — About half of Hawaii’s supply of 186,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine had been distributed through last week, officials said.

The state has more than 40 distribution sites for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, KITV-TV reported Sunday.

Democratic Lt. Gov. Josh Green said state leaders have pressed the federal government to continue supplying the state with doses.

“We now have another 50 or 60,000 scheduled appointments for people getting their either first shot or second shot,” Green said. “We didn’t want to leave people in the lurch.”

Officials remain aware of the ongoing transition between presidential administrations while focusing on the need for each patient to receive two shots spaced weeks apart to receive full vaccine cycles, Green said.

“We don’t want people to come get vaccinated and then find out three weeks later, sorry, we can’t complete the series,” Green said.

More than 5,500 people were scheduled to receive vaccine shots at Honolulu’s Blaisdell Center mass vaccination site Monday.

Green said he asked Democratic Gov. David Ige to allow residents who have received a full vaccine series to be allowed to bypass the state’s mandated quarantine for inter-island travel beginning in mid- to late-February.

Green recommended extending the proposed rule change to include trans-Pacific visitors a month later. There have been 1.1 million arrivals from outside the state with no major spike in virus cases, he said.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some — especially older adults and people with existing health problems — it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.