More essential workers to be eligible for COVID-19 vaccine
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(Photo by JOEL SAGET/AFP via Getty Images)
HONOLULU (KHON2) — The Department of Health is expanding its COVID-19 vaccine eligibility pool to include more essential workers starting Monday, April 5.
Construction, banking and finance, communications, media, retail, information technology, clergy and transportation and logistics workers will be able to book their appointment at various participating health clinics starting on Monday.
It is the latest attempt by the Department of Health to get as many Hawaii residents vaccinated before the summer.
Eligibility is based on current and projected vaccination numbers, appointment availability and the amount of vaccine made available to health clinics.
The news comes after Kauai and Hawaii Counties opened up vaccine eligibility to all residents age 16 and older.
“I’m hoping that the governor and the director of health will authorize a change as early as the twelfth, which would be next Monday,” said Lt. Governor Josh Green. “That would be good. I don’t know whether Director of Health Char will be ready to go down to, say, 50 or all the way down. It’s really connected to how much vaccine we get. But if we continue to see empty appointments, we need to move those age categories more open.”
Green adds that opening vaccine eligibility to lower age groups can help lower the state’s average daily coronavirus case numbers.
For more information about where to get a COVID-19 vaccine, click here.
