With the holiday season just around the corner, many Hawaiʻi residents are making plans to gather with family and friends or take a trip that was put off during the height of the pandemic.
While case counts have remained fairly steady for the past two months, COVID-19 is still in our community. In its Nov. 9 weekly COVID update, the Hawaiʻi Department of Health reported 1,288 new cases—and sadly, five deaths.
DOH also reported that just 16.5% of eligible Hawaiʻi residents received a bivalent booster since the updated vaccines became available.
Getting a bivalent booster now will protect you and your loved ones and help to make sure that your plans stay on track this holiday season.
Bivalent Boosters Offer Extra Protection
The bivalent booster provides better protection against the strains of COVID-19 circulating in Hawaiʻi.
Bivalent booster vaccines are designed specifically to protect against both original COVID-19 and Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5.
The BA.5 Omicron subvariant accounts for 69% of COVID-19 cases in Hawaiʻi, according to a new DOH variant report published on Nov. 9.
In addition, protection conferred by COVID-19 vaccines wanes over time. The bivalent booster restores protection that has waned since previous vaccination.
Why Boost Now?
COVID-19 vaccine protection increases in the days and weeks following the dose. Immunity spurred by the bivalent booster can take up to 14 days to build. If you get boosted in the next few days, you’ll be protected by Thanksgiving—which gives you and your ʻohana more peace of mind as you gather.
The CDC and DOH recommend the bivalent booster manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech for people age 5 and older and the bivalent booster by Moderna for people 6 and older.
Eligible individuals can receive a bivalent booster as long as they:
- Completed the primary series of any COVID-19 vaccine
- Received their last COVID vaccine, including boosters, at least two months ago
Booster appointments are scheduled by individual vaccine providers. Find information about providers and the services they offer by visiting vaccines.gov or the vaccine finder map at HawaiiCOVID19.com/vaccine.
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