Monkeypox: What You Need to Know
Many of the preventative measures that protected us during the COVID-19 pandemic also prevent the spread of other diseases, including monkeypox. Preventative measures include staying home when sick, washing hands, limiting close personal contact with people who have symptoms, and getting vaccinated. While COVID-19 vaccines are recommended for everyone age six months and older, the JYNNEOS vaccine that protects against monkeypox is currently only for certain populations. What is monkeypox? Monkeypox is generally rare, less severe, and much less infectious than smallpox. However, it can be a serious illness. It can be spread from infected humans, animals, and materials contaminated [...]
New Bivalent Boosters Targeting Omicron Subvariants Arrive Soon
New booster shots designed specifically to protect against the most common form of COVID-19 will soon be available in Hawai‘i. The new boosters are the first vaccines designed specifically to protect against the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants as well as original COVID-19. The Hawai‘i Department of Health (DOH) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are recommending the bivalent boosters for people 12 and older. According to the most recent Variant Report published by the DOH State Laboratories Division, BA.5 is the dominant strain in Hawai‘i accounting for at least 91% [...]
Doctors address a laundry list of long COVID symptoms
The scores of people suffering from long COVID are difficult to quantify and categorize. Therefore, long COVID is not used as often as case counts, hospitalizations and deaths to measure the impact and severity of the pandemic. But long COVID is very real and in many cases debilitating. “We have had patients who cannot return to work. We have people from 2020 still struggling. It is quite disabling, and it is very real,” said Dr. Abby Pandula, a primary care physician with Kaiser Permanente in Hawai‘i. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and [...]
Respond to Omicron BA.5
The virus that causes COVID-19 continues to mutate and as it mutates new variants emerge. The most dominant variant in Hawai‘i is BA.5 which accounts for at least 68% of all COVID-19 cases in the state. BA.5’s dominance is expected to grow in coming weeks. How It Differs From Previous Variants BA.5 is more transmissible than its predecessors. It shows more resistance to the antibodies produced by vaccination and prior infections than previous variants. This means BA.5 has an easier time infecting people who have been vaccinated or have antibodies from a prior infection. [...]
Back to School Safely
In-person learning and classroom safety remain priorities as students prepare to return to school. Proper implementation of layered COVID-19 mitigation strategies support these priorities. Vaccines and masks are among the most important and widely available tools to keep classrooms safe. “Staying up to date on COVID-19 vaccination is the single most important strategy for preventing severe disease from COVID-19,” said State Epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Kemble. All school-age children are eligible for COVID-19 vaccines. An estimated 78% students ages 12 to 17 years old have completed their primary series of two vaccinations and 26% of them have [...]
Local Vlogger Details His Family’s Experience With COVID-19
For three years the YouTube channel “Hello from Hawaii” has been providing talk-story type videos about life in Hawai‘i from the viewpoint of one local family. The video blogs include discussions about contemporary issues big and small such as the realities of buying a home, what aloha shirts locals wear as opposed to tourists, and a look at race and discrimination in the Aloha State. But when the entire family, including the pregnant wife and 2-year-old child, all caught COVID-19 the talk became very serious. Sitting side-by-side on their living room sofa, the couple speaks directly into the camera as [...]
Pandemic Creates Urgent Need to Address Youth Mental Health Crisis
The U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory in December 2021 highlighting the urgent need to address our nation’s ongoing youth mental health crisis which has been significantly expanded by the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Scott Shimabukuro, acting administrator for the Hawai‘i Department of Health’s Child & Adolescent Mental Health Division (CAMHD), said children in Hawai‘i have suffered from the stress and isolation imposed on them during the pandemic and now need supportive families and medical resources to help them recover. "For our kids to bounce back and thrive, families need to demonstrate the ability to appropriately express emotions with each other; [...]
Translations Provide Critical COVID-19 Information for Non-English Speakers
Hawaiʻi’s diverse ethnic population means that about one in four residents speak a language other than English at home – higher than the U.S. average of 21 percent. In 2006, the Hawaiʻi legislature recognized that language is a barrier for individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP) and passed Hawaiʻi’s Language Access law to ensure that LEP individuals have meaningful access to state-funded services. "Hawaiʻi has diverse communities and health information should be translated so it can be shared with those who can't understand or are limited English proficient,” said May Rose Dela Cruz, Director of Health Equity and Research for [...]
Where to Get Your COVID-19 Vaccination Now
As the number of COVID-19 cases has declined in Hawai‘i and healthcare providers have pulled back from running large vaccination and testing clinics statewide, there are still many options available for residents to get their vaccinations, boosters, and COVID-19 tests. “COVID-19 vaccines are still readily available across the state. Large operations that could accommodate hundreds of people a day have closed, but vaccines are still easy to get at pharmacies, community health centers, doctor’s offices and elsewhere,” said State Epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Kemble. All Hawai‘i residents age 5 and above are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. The DOH is following [...]
Hawaii’s State Veterinarian says pets can get COVID, but it is not common
We love our animals in Hawai‘i. We treat our pets like family and our farm animals with respect. Unfortunately, just like humans, animals can contract COVID-19. The virus is believed to have started in an animal at an open market in China, spread to humans and then spread between people, according to the Mayo Clinic. The virus that causes coronavirus disease mostly spreads from person to person, but it can also spread from people to animals. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), pets — including cats and dogs — have been infected with the virus that [...]