Spotlight Hawaii

Department of Education superintendent Dr. Christina Kishimoto joined Spotlight Hawaii to talk about school re-openings after spring break, graduation plans for the class of 2021 and allowing student-athletes back on campus for practice and conditioning. She also took questions about the vaccine rollout for teachers, summer learning programs, and food availability for students in need.

Lt. Gov. Josh Green said he expects the state to open vaccines to residents over 70-years old by March 15, and to open to those over 65 just a few weeks after that.

“We only have 146,000 individuals statewide that are age 65-74, so we’ll aggressively move through those numbers. I know it can’t come soon enough for people, but now it’s pretty soon,” Green said this morning on Spotlight Hawaii.

The state is set to receive over 55,000 vaccine doses this week, a significant increase from weeks past, and includes 11,000 doses of the newly approved Johnson and Johnson vaccine. Dr. Green recommends that residents accept whatever vaccine is available, but also said that patients will have a choice of which vaccine to get.

“If you’re under 50, you’re overall healthy, in my opinion Johnson and Johnson is a perfect shot for you,” he said.

Green, who is also leading the Safe Travels program, said that he supports allowing a vaccine passport for transcontinental travel, beginning May 1. That would allow for those with verified vaccines to be able to travel to the state without COVID-19 testing or mandatory quarantine.

“We have to move forward and we know that we did the right things to keep people alive, but we also have to do the right things to keep our economy alive, and that’s where I’m headed,” he explained.

When it comes to inter island travel, Green said he hopes for all restrictions to be lifted by next month.

“My personal recommendation is that we get to that point on or before April 1, where we have no requirements for testing between the neighbor islands because we are safe and we’ve vaccinated so many of our people,” he said.

Movers and Shakas Director Nicole Lim and Hawaii COVID Collaborative Director Na’alehu Anthony joined Spotlight Hawaii, a series from the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that shines a spotlight on issues affecting our islands, today for a livestream video and took viewer questions.

Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association CEO Mufi Hannemann and Outrigger Hotels and Resorts CEO Jeff Wagoner joined Spotlight Hawaii, a series from the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that shines a spotlight on issues affecting our islands, today for a livestream and took viewer questions.

Gov. David Ige said that Hawaii will be receiving a larger than usual shipment of COVID-19 vaccine doses this week, making up for the delayed shipment last week due to the winter storm on the mainland U.S.

“They are going to catch up on the vaccine distribution this week, so we expect more than 77,000 doses of vaccine. That really represents last week’s Moderna shipment, which didn’t make it,” he said this morning on Spotlight Hawaii.

Ige said the state will soon be lowering the vaccine age requirement from 75 down to 70. The expectation was that residents over 65 would be allowed to have access, but Ige said state health director Libby Char believes it is smarter to open more slowly.

“Dr. Char really felt that it would better to go to 70 first, and then 65 after that,” Ige said, adding that the state is attempting to avoid long lines or any bottlenecks at vaccine distribution sites, which have occurred in other states.

“There’s 130,000 individuals between 65 and 75, and if we made it available to all of that, once again we feel that there would be too many people wanting to get their appointments and not enough slots,” he said.

Ige received his first dose of the vaccine today shortly after the broadcast.

“I know people have asked me how come I’ve waited, am I hesitant or reluctant, and that’s just not the case. I wanted the opportunity for frontline essential workers to be able to get vaccinated,” he said.

Ige also took questions on potential changes to the Safe Travels program, the reopening of schools, the backlog of people waiting for unemployment benefits, and the potential of Oahu moving into Tier 3 this week.

Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations Director Anne Perreira-Eustaquio joined Spotlight Hawaii, a series from the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that shines a spotlight on issues affecting our islands, today for a livestream video and took viewer questions.

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz is hopeful that both houses of Congress could pass a $1.9 trillion federal stimulus package by mid-March that would prevent the layoffs and furloughs of Hawaii public workers, help keep island businesses afloat and prevent renters and homeowners from losing their homes while extending unemployment benefits.

Schatz responded to a range of questions during an appearance today on the Star-Advertiser’s Spotlight Hawaii, in which he hoped to get students back in school after spring back — while working through school employee unions’ collective bargaining agreements.

And as a member of the Senate Transportation Committee, Schatz said he intends to help the city’s troubled rail project but wants to give Mayor Rick Blangiardi and the interim head of the project time to develop a new plan.

“But I ain’t going to be able to find $2 billion,” Schatz said.

Blangiardi and Lori Kahikina, the interim CEO and executive director for the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, need to be candid with both residents and the Federal Transit Administration on what’s realistic and “as straightforward as possible about the fiscal plan,” Schatz said. “People are just sick of being told a fantastical story that there’s a magical solution.”

Unlike the first two federal relief packages in 2020 under the administration of Donald Trump, Schatz said the new federal aid expected from President Joe Biden’s administration is expected to directly fund county and state services, which Democrats have wanted.

Locally, Schatz said, the new stimulus is expected to provide “money for state government to be able to plug the budget hole. They’ve been delivering services but they just don’t have the revenue because tourism has taken a nose dive.”

The stimulus is also aimed at the biggest investment in native communities ever, while providing more COVID-19 vaccine, helping schools and county government and provide rent and mortgage relief.

“It could be enough to prevent all layoffs and furloughs,” Schatz said. “… If our collective objective is to simply survive this moment until we have enough vaccinations and enough herd immunity that we can get our lives back and our economy back, I think it’s going to be enough … to prevent the layoff of public workers or the furloughing of public workers. This is my No. 1 priority.”

Lt. Gov. Josh Green said today Hawaii’s vaccination rollout is on track to allow for in-person classroom learning by mid-May, adding that students and parents need it to happen as soon as possible.

“I think when our educators are vaccinated, we should open the schools, that simple. And I think that’s going on right now, we’re aggressively vaccinating our teachers as we speak and those who support the schools across the board,” he said. “There’s no real reason that come May 15, we can’t encourage all of our schools to the best of their ability to get back in-person.”

Hawaii could deliver up to 80,000 doses per week, but the federal government is not close to meeting the state’s vaccine distribution capacity. Green said this week Hawaii is expected to receive 42,800 doses this week, 49,600 next week, and 50,700 the week after that. In addition, the military is receiving its own supply in Hawaii, and CVS pharmacies will receive over 4,000 vaccine doses, to distribute at select Long’s locations across the state.

“It’s going well. In fact, if would go even better if we had more from the feds,” Green said. “We’re seeing lower cases week after week. We’re not in the clear yet, but it’s going pretty well.”

Green, who is spearheading both the vaccine roll out and the Safe Travels program, said he hopes to amend the travel requirements to allow travelers to bypass the testing requirement, provided they can show they have received the second dose of a vaccine at least two weeks post-arrival. Green expects by March 1, CISA exempt workers would be able to travel under that new rule, all inter-island travelers to do so by April 1, and all mainland travelers to be allowed to do so by May 1.

“That will really mean that by the summertime we can have lots of safe travelers, and remember the more important part is that we will be safe,” he said. “Because on May 1, we will have… 850,000 shots, so we will have that protection so that no matter what happens, we’re basically safe. This is the way we restore our economy very quickly. We would likely see a huge uptick in visitors by say, the fall this way.”

Green took questions on a variety of topics, including a bill making its way through the state Legislature that would prohibit lieutenant governors from holding side jobs. Some see the measure as targeting Green, who works as an emergency room doctor on Hawaii island, in addition to his work at the state Capitol.

“Honestly we just don’t have any time for political games,” he said. “Any leader who’s not completely focused on stopping COVID right now is really not doing the people a service that they deserve.”

Green added that since the bill in question would likely take effect in November 2022, it would have little impact on him personally.

“I’ll not be lieutenant governor at that point,” he said. “People will either choose me as governor or they won’t. There’s no secret about that. But I think we should be focused on COVID and saving lives.”

Honolulu Councilwoman Andria Tupola and Chad Owens on the Safe Sports 808 initiative join Spotlight Hawaii, a series from the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that shines a spotlight on issues affecting our islands, today for a livestream video and took viewer questions.

Hawaii Pacific Health Chief Quality Office Dr. Melinda Ashton said the COVID-19 vaccination center at Pier 2 on Oahu is running smoothly, with patients able to go through the process quickly, and very few reporting any adverse reactions to the shot. The main issue facing the vaccine rollout in Hawaii is simply too few doses coming in from the federal government.

“It’s so hard to wait, I understand that. We are committed to making appointments available as soon as we can be assured that we have vaccine to deliver a dose to those that have the appointment,” she said this morning on Spotlight Hawaii.

The state is receiving roughly 40,000 doses a week, and has given out over 200,000 vaccinations. Those include a mix of first and second doses. The Biden Administration has vowed to ramp up vaccine production, but so far, Dr. Ashton said those efforts have not resulted a substantial increase of doses to Hawaii.

“Right now we’re struggling to make sure we have enough vaccine for all of the second dose appointments we have. We’re gonna be very close, and we’re hoping to get just a little bit more so we can complete those without having to postpone any appointments,” she explained, “But we are postponing some first appointments and we will not be making any new first appointments for anybody that’s interested right now, and it will probably be a couple more weeks at least before we have any available.”

Dr. Ashton, who is also a pediatrician, also took questions on the impact of COVID-19 infections children, and the risks versus benefits of in-person classroom learning at this time. On the subject of double-masking, she said that when a disposable, paper mask, the kind now sold widely in many retail stores, is worn under a cloth mask, the two together can be nearly as effective as a medical grade N-95 mask.

“That combination of two masks is actually really helpful to reduce that chance of spread. But at the same time, it’s wear the mask properly, keep your social distancing, wash your hands, stay out of large groups. So it’s not just the double mask, it’s all of the other pieces as well,” she said.