Sixty percent of Hawaii residents are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19 — three weeks after the state was expected to hit that benchmark.
Gov. David Ige implemented changes to the state’s travel and gathering restrictions on July 8, the date that 60% of Hawaii’s population was expected to be fully inoculated.
Ige has said previously that when the state reaches a fully vaccinated rate of 70%, all of Hawaii’s COVID-related emergency restrictions will be dropped, and the state’s Safe Travels Program will end.
More than 1.75 million doses have been administered statewide. According to the DOH, 66.7% of residents have received at least one dose.
On the Big Island, 56% of residents, or 112,015 people, have completed a vaccination series, and 66% have received at least one shot.
Vaccines currently are available for individuals 12 and older.
According to data from the DOH updated Wednesday, keiki 17 and younger are 14% of COVID-19 cases, while individuals 18-29 now account for 24% of cases.
The DOH on Thursday reported 234 confirmed and probable coronavirus cases amid an ongoing surge and a growing prevalence of the highly transmissible Delta variant.
Of those, 54 were reported on the Big Island.
Thursday’s tally included some cases not reported earlier in the week due to an electronic reporting interruption.
Hawaii County’s 6.9% test positivity rate remains the highest in the state.
The statewide positivity rate is 4.8%.