Catrina Nesper of Kailua did not hesitate to unload the new BIVALENT COVID-19 booster, which targets the latest subvariants of omicron.
She made an appointment at her local Safeway store last week and traveled Wednesday to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in one arm and a flu shot in the other in anticipation of an upcoming stopover in California to visit her grandchildren. Nesper, who is in the age diversity of 50 and older, gained his memory for the moment in April, and was looking to get the update as soon as possible.
Michele Shields, 65, of Kaneohe, went online to make an appointment with CVS and traveled to Pearl City over the weekend to receive the reminder, along with her husband. He said that apart from a pain in his arm, he didn’t enjoy any aspect. effects
Several pharmacies have already made appointments for reminders, while some network gyms are preparing to do so in the coming days. Kaiser Permanente Hawaii will begin providing bivalent COVID-19 boosters at its facility on Friday.
The Hawaii Department of Health has pre-ordered its full batch of 37,800 doses from spokesman Brooks Baehr.
In total, 24,000 doses were dispensed, adding up to about 9,600 doses that were to be delivered on Wednesday and today. Deliveries go directly to suppliers, who will schedule the availability of withdrawal injections.
In addition, pharmacies, which order independently of doH, more than 30,000 bivalent doses.
CVS, which operates Longs Drugs in Hawaii, Walgreens and Safeway are among the retail outlets with pharmacies scheduling online appointments at locations in Hawaii. Wahiawa, among others.
Meanwhile, the average number of COVID-19s in Hawaii continued to decline in early September.
The state’s seven-day average of new instances fell Wednesday to 190, from 245 on Aug. 31, marking the first time the weekly average has fallen below two hundred since mid-April. The state’s average positivity rate continued its decline to 6. 4% from the 7. 3% reported last week. That’s a massive drop since early June, when the state’s average positivity rate peaked at 19. 2%.
“I think we’re in a wonderful position right now, and it’s getting better,” Gov. David Ige said in a verbal exchange on honolulu Star-Advertiser’s “Spotlight Hawaii” webcast Wednesday. Ige said everyone who was eligible would get the bivalent withdrawals, which were legal last week through the Food and Drug Administration and then through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC approved Pfizer’s bivalent recall for others 12 years of age and older and Moderna’s bivalent recall for adults 18 years of age and older.
The new bivalent vaccines are formulated to provide opposite coverage to the original strain of COVID-19 and the newer subvariants BA. 4 and BA. 5 of omicron, the latter being dominant in the United States and Hawaii.
People who have completed a number one round of COVID-19 vaccines and those who have gained one or two booster doses (the recent maximum dose was given at least two months ago) should get a singles booster dose.
In addition, the new bivalent vaccines update monovalent mRNA boosters that were previously legal for others from the age of 12.
The CDC continues to introduce Pfizer’s monovalent boosters for children ages five to 11 and for those who have not yet been vaccinated with its number one series.
In a briefing earlier this week, the White House COVID-19 Response Team touted COVID boosters as something to look to the future, like flu shots.
COVID-19 advisor Dr Ashish Jha said it was moderate to expect the new vaccines, which now fit the dominant strain, to offer greater coverage against the infection. This, he said, marks significant progress in controlling the virus in the future.
“With fewer new variant curveballs, we’ve noticed curveballs, for the vast majority of Americans, we’re heading to a point where a single annual COVID vaccine provides a higher level of coverage rather than a serious illness year-round,” he said. said. ” This is a vital step. “
Officials hope bivalent vaccines will prevent another surge as fall and winter approach, when colder weather in the Americas will push more people to live at home, where respiratory viruses like COVID-19 tend to spread more easily.
The annual flu vaccination crusade also begins in the fall, and officials said it’s possible for other people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and flu at the same time.
The DOH on Wednesday reported 1,215 new COVID-19 infections over the past week, a lower number than in recent weeks, bringing the total number of cases since the beginning of the pandemic to 340,729. By island, 805 new infections were reported on Oahu, 134 in Hawaii, 151 on Maui, 86 on Kauai and seven on Molokai. Another 32 infections have been reported for citizens outside the state of Hawaii.
The DOH also reported 11 more deaths, bringing the number of coronavirus-related deaths in the state to 1,655.
Use of vaccines and boosters has slowed in recent months, with approximately forty-five% of the state’s population receiving a COVID-19 booster.
Visit hawaiicovid19. com/vaccine for vaccination appointments.
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