Starting Monday, March 8, 2021, the Hawai‘i Department of Health is expanding COVID testing to those 70 years of age and older.  To this point vaccines had been reserved for healthcare workers, long-term care facility residents, frontline essential workers and kupuna 75 and older.

In a DOH statement State Health Director Dr. Elizabeth Char said, “we have vaccinated enough people in those groups that we are able to open eligibility to everyone 70 and above. We will closely monitor how quickly vaccines are used and may open to people age 65 and up and those in phase 1c in a couple of weeks,” Char said.

The state’s accelerated vaccine schedule is due to an increase in the number of weekly allotments to Hawai‘i which have jumped from approximately 40,000 doses to more than 67,000 doses.  Another factor is the recent authorization allowing use of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine