Hawaii will not require vaccinated travelers to have a Covid-19 booster shot to avoid testing and quarantine when entering the state, Gov. David Ige announced Tuesday after considering such a move for the past month.
This comes as the state is seeing a wave of omicron-driven Covid cases recede, with its seven-day average dropping 75% from a pandemic high of 4,661 cases in mid-January to 1,142 cases Tuesday, .
Maui Mayor Mike Victorino also , effective Monday. Maui had been the only county to require booster shots to be considered fully vaccinated as part of its 鈥淪afer Outside鈥 program.
Hawaii hospitalizations have also plummeted by 50%, to , but still remain six times higher than pre-omicron levels.
There was much speculation on when Ige would make his choice after he announced he was considering聽requiring a booster for vaccinated travelers looking to avoid a five-day quarantine or a Covid test as part of the state鈥檚 Safe Travels program.
Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi suggested last month that to begin requiring boosters. Ige did not confirm the date, however, he did tell KHON2 in late January that the .
In announcing his decision Tuesday, Ige cited Hawaii鈥檚 declining case and hospitalization rates and said he took into consideration Hawaii鈥檚 high vaccination rates, with more than 75% of the state fully vaccinated.
With Covid cases in decline across the U.S., many Democrat-led states have begun easing pandemic precautions.
New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware and Oregon all Monday, and California said it would allow its to expire on Feb. 15.
Hawaii will not be relaxing restrictions yet, Ige said in the press release.
鈥淎t this time, we will also maintain the indoor mask mandate and other rules that have helped us manage this pandemic while reopening the economy,鈥 Ige said.
Hawaii has struggled with raising its booster rates, with just under 36% of fully vaccinated residents opting for another jab. Hawaii Department of Health director Libby Char still urged residents to get boosted following Ige鈥檚 decision, citing evidence that a third shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines is over 90% effective at keeping people out of the hospital for Covid.
鈥淥micron case counts are dropping but we don鈥檛 know if or when we may see another surge in cases of COVID-19,鈥 Char said in the press release. 鈥淕etting vaccinated and boosted now will help to prevent you from becoming seriously ill.鈥
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Joel Lau is a Civil Beat reporting intern. Share tips and ideas at jlau@civilbeat.org, or follow him on Twitter .