Surge of virus in Hawaii prompts COVID Task Force to keep urging vaccination

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The COVID-19 Task Force in it’s weekly meeting on Monday heard Director of Health Motusa Nua caution that Hawaii’s COVID cases are going through the roof and Hawaii is now being considered a deadly zone.

In a press release issued this week by the Task Force, it was noted that Motusa’s comments were reinforced by updates provided by Dr Cecilia Alailima who pointed to the nationwide surges of the delta variant, which has rapidly spread across the nation and makes up a majority of new infections.

“The US has gone from dropping down with the availability of vaccines and now it’s right back up in a surge of delta cases. It is pretty serious out there. There has been a tenfold increase from June-July and now into August.”

Dr Alailima emphasized the longstanding recommendations and advice of the medical and public health community urging all eligible members of the community to get their vaccinations. Alailima reports that unvaccinated people remain the territory’s greatest concern for transmissions, symptoms, illness and death commenting that 99.5% of hospitalizations are among the unvaccinated.

Reports of increased pediatric hospitalization in several states are another concern and spoke of reports from southern states (Texas, Florida, Louisiana) of children on ventilators in the ICU.

“Children are still a low-risk but are not a NO-RISK,” the doctor said.

LOCAL VACCINATION RATES

The week of August 8- 14th showed an increase from the previous weeks doses administered (896) with a total of 1123. This includes the 295 doses administered during the Protect AS One Festival on Saturday. The grand total of doses administered stands at 55,038. The number of individuals with at least one dose is 29,347 with 1,413 awaiting their second shot and 1,637 past due for their second shot.

Pre-raffle incentive vaccination coverage indicates that as of July 1st, 53.9% of the total population had at least one dose and 47.9% were fully vaccinated. Following vaccination incentives as of August 16th, 61.9% of the total population had at least one dose and 55.5% were fully vaccinated. This data points to an 8 point increase in vaccinations as a result of the various vaccination campaign efforts and incentives.

The Department of Health concluded with updated recommendations for quarantine upon arrival in American Samoa based on the Territory’s vaccination levels, increased risk posed by the delta variant surges in the US, and the elimination of quarantine in Hawaii. These recommendations include a 10-day quarantine requirement for fully vaccinated and a 14-day quarantine for mixed, partial, and unvaccinated individuals and families.

SAFE TRAVELS PROGRAM

Plans to conduct a manual test pilot of the Safe Travels program on August 30th are still underway as shared by updates from Task Force leadership of the ASG Hawaii Office.

Approximately 100 travelers comprising ASG officials, Federal employees, private essential employees, and returning students will undergo the manual safe travels program that require a total of 3 negative PCR tests 10 days, 5 days, and 48 hours out prior to departure. The manual system will assist the Task Force test and prepare for the electronic safe travels system that the Task Force aims to launch prior to the September 13th target date.

(Samoa News should point out that the press release made no mention about the request for proposals for the electronic version of the safe travels program, how long this will take or the status of the site itself.)

The Medicaid flights for the remainder of August are still confirmed for Thursday August 19th and Monday August 30th with Hawaiian Airlines beginning a resumption of nighttime arrivals and departures.

PROTECT AS ONE FESTIVAL

Task Force Chairman (who is also Acting Governor) Talauega Ale commended the AS Department of Health, Chamber of Commerce, private sector and all ASG agencies involved in the latest vaccination push which culminated with the #Protect AS One festival held this past Saturday August 14th at the Veteran’s Memorial Stadium.

“We can’t thank you enough for your participation and involvement in making it a success. We have shown that where there’s a will, we can achieve great things for our people and community. We look forward to continuing our partnerships and realizing our full potential as a community.  Government is just one segment of our society. The rest is all of us –– private sector, churches, and other sectors of the community.”

In addition to a variety of local food vendors, music, raffle and prize giveaways, the Department of Health offered vaccines for those wishing to get a first or second dose. Residents that provided proof of vaccination cards were given raffle tickets to be included in drawings announced throughout the duration of the Festival.

Updates provided at the Task Force by the AS Department of Health reported that nearly 300 residents were vaccinated during the Festival contributing to the ongoing vaccination campaign efforts.

The Chairman noted that the medical community has made excellent strides since the beginning of vaccination efforts early in the year and that we need to push the needle further. He said, “We’ve surpassed 60% of the population with one shot and now we need to get to 80% or higher.”

(Source: COVID-19 Task Force press release)