Ige: Fewer restrictions on fully-vaccinated interisland travelers starting May 11

Gov. David Ige said today a vaccine passport program to allow fully vaccinated interisland travelers to bypass COVID-19 testing and quarantine will be in place by May 11.

“Beginning May 11, fully vaccinated travelers who receive their vaccine in Hawaii will be able to travel inter-county without having to quarantine for 10 days,” Ige said.

Lt. Gov. Josh Green, a Big Island physician, defined “fully vaccinated” as having received two Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 shots, or a single shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and have had two weeks pass after the second vaccination to allow antibodies to build in the system.

Maj. Gen. Kenneth Hara, the director of the director of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, said those interisland travelers who present proof of being fully vaccinated in Hawaii through the Safe Travels program will not be subject to pre-travel or post-travel testing.

Hara said it is more difficult to verify vaccinations which occur out-of-state but said the state hopes to implement a vaccine passport program for trans-Pacific travelers by summer.

See Wednesday’s Tribune-Herald for a complete story.

Email John Burnett at hawaiitribune-herald.com.