 Come to Think Tech Hawaii. This show is the state of the state of Hawaii, and I'm your host, Stephanie Stoll Dalton. This show offers viewers news of state events and critical issues in top with expert and informed guests who share their expertise and critical viewpoints on state topics of business, government, economics, law, public health, policy, safety, transportation, education, and much more that we have to do. Today's show focuses on public health and safety, specifically Hawaii's effort to vaccinate all citizens against COVID-19 and hopefully its variants, to some degree, and officially report and record the state's activities. And that will be a report to the United States of America's activity on this and we'll get data for further use to make things even better going forward. Our local guest today is from the Department of Health. It's a Brooks Bear. He will share information on the state progress managing this enormous responsibility to vaccinate all against COVID, and he serves as a Department of Health spokesperson on issues of COVID-19 and Hawaii's pandemic response. You may know him from newspaper articles quoting him and his appearance on local newscasts. So we're really pleased to have him on the show and to bring up for this information through this medium. Welcome, Brooks, and thanks so much for coming back. I believe that it's really wonderful to have you put this time in and give us the information that we all really need to take so seriously and be assured that we're protected as the state of Hawaii intends to. I believe we can and regarding that, I believe we can say we are more safe this time this year, unlike a year ago when Hawaii had no test kits and no diagnoses and nobody knew what was up or down or coming in or going out. So since then vaccinations are available for selected groups and we had a stark reminder recently of our isolation and its risk for us in the archipelago that is the most remote in the whole world. That was of course the delay of the vaccination serum from the mainland due to the severe weather. Now distribution is back on schedule and the few people I talked to about it say it worked out fine, but at numerous sites and it gave everybody some confidence to feel more protected for themselves and others. So given that, is your in your view, is the program, the schedule, the distribution progressing well in light of what is known now? Yes. First of all, again, thanks for being able to come on and have an opportunity to share information with people because the more information we get out there, the better. So thank you for the forum. Yes, we think that the vaccination program is going as well as it can right now. There's always some bumps along the road, but given the issues we've really had with supply and demand and that being that demand has far outpaced supply, we're doing well. We would love to have more vaccine and as each week goes by, we are getting a little bit more incrementally more and more and that only helps the situation. So we continue to roll it out. We think in a safe and orderly manner, you don't see any long lines, everyone has an appointment when they come in and once you go to get your vaccine, you are in and out of that facility rather quickly and protected when you walk out much more than you were when you came in against COVID-19. Who decides how much Hawaii receives in vaccine? Where is that decision made? How does that happen? That decision comes from the federal government. Every state's allotment is based on state population. So we like to say that our vaccines are for Hawaii residents because what we get is based on our population here. The federal government looks at it and they look at our population and they give us a percentage of the federal allotment. I tell you what, I can show you some information that will illustrate or a graphic that will illustrate for you and how we've been incrementally moving along and let's go if we can to slide number six. We have a PowerPoint for you and I believe slide number six will help us illustrate kind of where we've been and hopefully where we are going. This shows the weekly allotments and I can tell you that I did just find out that this week we are going to be getting in the state of Hawaii 67,280 doses of Moderna, Pfizer and the brand new Johnson & Johnson vaccine and I don't know if we have slide six or not, but slide six would show us historically kind of where we've been. So things were really down the week of February 14th because that's the week that the mainland had those horrible ice storms. Well, we didn't get any Moderna that whole week and just some Pfizer came in, but the following week we caught up on all the Moderna, got us back up to speed, and we had more than 76,000 doses in the week of February 21st. That was really a double dose for us. Now this week we're getting 67,000 and that's a regular allotment. There's no catch up there. So there's this progression and now 67,000 because Johnson & Johnson was just added to the mix and we can talk about that vaccine if you'd like a little more. It has some real advantages over the other two. That's hot news. Yes, let's talk about that J&J if you've got some information. Yeah, that's the right out of the lab. We don't even have it yet, but it's coming. It is in the vaccine pipeline, so to speak. I don't know if we could be having an issue with my PowerPoint, but if it is working, we would maybe want to go to slide number seven and then slide number eight. So Johnson & Johnson, let me tell you a few things about the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. It is a one shot vaccine. The others, the Moderna and the Pfizer, they require two shots. You go in and then three weeks or four weeks later, you return for that second shot. And the second one is the one that you might experience some more adverse effects from that second shot, maybe some muscle aches, some fatigue, that kind of thing, maybe a headache, but the Johnson & Johnson benefit is just one shot. So if you are someone you don't like needles or you've got a trip planned, then you can go ahead and take the Johnson & Johnson and get it one and done quicker. So that is one advantage that the Johnson & Johnson offers. Other advantages just to the Johnson & Johnson are that it doesn't require that ultra cold storage, the 70 below like the Pfizer or even being frozen like the Moderna, if you have a refrigerator with a good backup power source in case the power goes out, you can store your Johnson & Johnson in there. So it just takes a refrigerator that makes it a lot easier to store and transport. Right. So that's a great advantage. So you've got easier storage and handling. You've got just the one shot. And the thing that people really care about is how effective is the Johnson & Johnson? Well, Johnson & Johnson has proved to be highly effective, 85 percent or more effective against severe illness, hospitalization. Again, so super effective against severe illness or hospitalization. And in the trial of Johnson & Johnson, not one person passed away. So far, it has been completely effective in preventing death. So the Johnson & Johnson highly effective, just one shot, easy to get to rural communities and easier to administer, maybe two aid, maybe a transient community that you can give them one shot now, but you don't know where they're going to be in three or four weeks, they might be good candidates for Johnson & Johnson because you administer that one shot and they're done. They don't have to come back. So we're really excited about about J&J coming into the market. We ordered our first shipment of Johnson & Johnson yesterday, eleven thousand nine hundred doses. Those doses will be coming maybe tomorrow or the next day, but we're going to get a Tuesday or Wednesday, March 2nd or 3rd, and that's going to supplement the supply that we've already had coming in from Pfizer and Moderna and armed with these three vaccines, we can continue to accelerate the vaccination program. So Brooks, I'm interested to know now the big but slipping up to the big context. How is it that what is Hawaii's goal for getting everybody shot? OK, so I know there are issues along the way, but what is the state's goal or is this the Department of Health's goal, which would be, of course, the state's goal. But anyway, OK, so there's that question. I know you have a time and the quick that then followed up to is how many does that mean? I guess we can all do our own division here. But then how many does that mean we have to give out every day to get all of our folks here, all islands, everybody? Well, I'll tell you what, we're going to use whatever we're sent. We could we could without standing up any more pods, opening any more pods without bringing in any more nurses or doctors to administer vaccinations. We could easily administer upwards of 80,000 a day. And if we did 80,000 a day, we could be done with our vaccination program by the end of August. Now, having said that, it all depends on supply. So I tell you what I can do is if we can look at the very first slide, which is the vaccination timeline, and this is something I hope people have seen before by logging on to HawaiiCovid19.com. Again, if you go to HawaiiCovid19.com, that we believe is really your one stop shopping for all things vaccine related and it shows our timeline. Where we started was in phase one A and we all know we've been over this before health care workers and long term care facility residents and employees. Then we moved into phase one B. That's where we still are in phase one B. Those are those first responders, the front line, front line essential workers and Kupuna 75 and older. Now, within the next couple of weeks, for sure, we're going to be opening up the vaccination program to those 70 and older. So we're really not moving into phase one C yet. We're kind of flexing one B instead of 75 and older. We're going to extend it a little bit lower down the scale, the age scale, the 70 and above, because, you know, we've taken care of a majority of the 75 and above, so soon we feel we'll be able to get the 70 year old in line to be vaccinated too, because they're also at risk. And then we'll open up one C, which is 65 and above of people who are 16 and older, who have medical conditions that may put them at high risk. Essential workers who are not considered front line essential workers. But you see the last one up there, which is summer of twenty one. That is phase two. And by summer of twenty one, we believe that we will be able to offer a vaccine for everyone. OK, but here's my question. It has to do with the fact that there are those that are getting in much younger. So, in fact, the military did the distribution this past weekend, I mean, up to the tune of twelve thousand or something like that, eleven thousand employees and veterans. And they were able to get the vaccine from 60 years old on up. So many people scurry advantage of their military privilege to do that. But what that's an equity issue, isn't it? So did the health department approve that? Why did they get why would they allow to to prioritize people that can't get it here in the state? Right. So a couple of things are going on there. That is through the Department of Defense Department of Defense program. So when I tell you that this week we're being allowed at sixty seven thousand vaccines, that doesn't count what the Department of Defense is doing. They're doing their own thing. We're not exactly privy to all their numbers and all their information and how many doses they've administered. That's that's for, I believe, for national security reasons and have kept within the Department of Defense, but certainly the DOD has its own vaccination program or active duty military and other people who are in that federal community are vaccinated. So, for example, the VA had gone down into the phase one C category a few weeks ago. We're not there yet as a general population, but the VA had already taken care of with its federal allotment of vaccines, the people in the older categories. And then now they've worked their way down to one C. And apparently the DOD is able to do that, too. So but this is really good news for all of us because if you're this is because they're federal and the state doesn't right, so the federal comes her so with that in that regard, I wanted to ask about the reporting for the state of Hawaii because I also have been reading that the military will not share their numbers with Department of Health or with the state's reporting. So we're so we're not getting the benefit of that that achievement of getting those people taken care of, too. Although I did hear and they kind of throw in a number for the total number. But what does this do to Hawaii's accurate and complete reporting? Well, it does it does create some confusion because we don't know exactly how many people who may have been vaccinated through the DOD program. And again, that's their prerogative for the federal government to share that with us or not for the Department of Defense to share it or not. And to this state, they have not. But here's so you said we don't get that benefit. We don't know the benefit of the numbers. But what we do get great benefit from is they're being vaccinated. And that's great because if my neighbor has been vaccinated through the DOD program, that benefits me because if I have contact with them, they've been protected, maybe, you know, so the guy you might run into in the grocery store, maybe he's been vaccinated, so it reduces the possibility of people getting sick and it's going to lower that transmission. And that benefits us all. So even if I haven't been vaccinated, if this guy next to me has been vaccinated, I'm better protected. So that really helps us all. So, you know, I imagine they're going to I would believe they vaccinated tens of thousands. But I think that's a very positive take on it and good. But I also know there's a lot of tension about when am I going to get my shot? I mean, that's one of the issues is who gets the shot first and why? And there's a lot of difficulty and even those eligible right now for the shot. They can't get an appointment. There's difficulty, even though they're within the range of here. So what this is just putting us in a situation that's making for some extra tension about the matter. Right, I can understand that if you're not able to get it, but your neighbor, who's got the same age and yeah, he's got it frantic or frantic. So, you know, they're and they can't understand why they can't. But anyway, so the Department of Health doesn't have any rules or isn't in control of all of this. That's whatever is federal is going to be a part of that. Well, I mean, I think and so isn't there any community between the Department of Health in Hawaii and the federal and the military? They just don't work together or they're really. Yeah, no, certainly there is communication between the two, but they have their own program and their own priorities. Just as we, the state, have the leeway to set our priorities for the people we think we should vaccinate first, that the federal government is doing that on the military basis and that their federal installations, they're prioritizing and taking care of the people they think they should take care of first. So certainly there's some communication, but we respect the Department of Defense's, you know, position in their mission and protecting their mission and really protecting us by performing their mission. And if they believe that, you know, withholding some of that information for a while is important, we respect that. We're just glad that they're out there vaccinating people, too. And they are, you know, they really are. They took care of older populations. They took care of people who have very important jobs for national security. So I heard you say a little earlier, I wanted to be clear about this. You said that Hawaii's timeline for having all vaccinated is in, did you say August? I just wanted to get that clear. Is that the end of the timeline? Well, is that when they they're moving by August? That's the end of this. Yeah, well, believe it or not, and this is hard for me to believe, but summer ends on, I think, September 22nd. And certainly before September 22nd, we want to have offered vaccine to every person in the state of Hawaii, no matter what their age, no matter what their occupation, if they are 16 and above. We believe, certainly by the end of summer and hopefully sometime in August, everyone's going to have an opportunity to have been vaccinated. So that's kind of the timeline we've looked at. But look, it all depends on the vaccine we get. If we get more vaccine, we could accelerate the whole process. And the fact that JJ is coming now is only good news. And there are other bits of good news of the new federal administration has started something called of the federal retail pharmacy program, which is getting now tens of thousands of vaccines right to CVS longs. And now they are additional distribution points that are around the state. That would be just ideal. Well, what's happening then so far? Is it my question is, is the Department of Health or do you know, or if this is appropriate to ask me, the coordination of all of these distributions and of the vaccination has seemed to be kind of rocky. In other words, kind of actually inequitable, unequal. I mean, so there was a big start on the Windward Coast. And then there was others starting up and then nobody knew where it was going. And then all of a sudden it's that fear too. So can you comment just on what happened there at the beginning? And are you all in much more is DOH more coordinating this whole process now, except for the military part? Well, I guess I would take exception with that because I believe the program is exactly equitable. What we're trying to look at are making sure all the counties get their fair share of doses according to your percentage of your population. If you have 20 percent of the population in your county, then you should get 20 percent of the vaccine or as close to 20 percent as possible. And it's going to fluctuate a little just just by nature of like a Pfizer tray has one thousand one hundred and seventy doses in it. So you ship a tray at a time so you could ship a tray to one island and they might go just a little bit above their percentage or a little bit below. Kauai has been ahead of the game because Kauai is such a small island. They're able to get to roll out the vaccine plan much faster, but we think it's been very equitable because again, you want to think of who we're targeting and actually if we can, let's take a look at a slide here that I think will help illustrate who we're targeting and why. And let's go to number four if we can. Does this talks about outcomes? OK, and this will explain why the Department of Health thinks that it is so very important to do reverse age targeting when it comes to vaccinations. On the far right, you see so far, these are numbers as of last Wednesday, one hundred and sixty five people age 80 and older had died. That is the greatest population age wise. And you go down to the 70 to 79 year olds, 111 of people in the 70 to 75 year old age group had died. And then you go to the 60 to 69 age group, 79 people. So the older you are, the greater at risk you are of of severe illness and certainly death. And and the younger you are, the more your body is able to fight off COVID. And if we go to the next slide, number five, this is really something. If you are 75 or older, you are eight times more likely to be hospitalized from COVID than someone who is 20 to 24 years old. And if you are 75 or older, you are a whopping, and this is really sad, 186 times more likely to perish from COVID-19 than someone who is 20 to 24. So you look at that 186 times more likely to die. That's why we're focusing. Yeah, but many factors, you know, I mean, I understand obesity has a lot diabetes, you know, people that are immune problems so that there's many, many reasons why this might be a factor for young people to keep in mind because it isn't just an old people's disease and and the young many, many reports of the incredibly young, including children who have been affected by this nasty bug. So all these efforts that we're making are very important and the best that needs to be done for everyone. So I think that Hawaii, I mean, Hawaii has Kauai who has almost no cases. They've been relatively free of of COVID. Haven't they? Have you all got data on why are they so? Well, that's that's because Hawaii Island, Kauai County, Derek Kawakami took a very aggressive stance on Kauai to protecting his island, protecting his people, so they have more. They have had more strict travel restrictions for many months now. And it is, you know, you see maybe one case or two cases new pop up over there. They've been zero for the last several days. And that's really important because Hawaii does not have the hospital capacity in the health care system that we do here on the island here on Oahu, for example. So if Kauai were to have a real big outbreak, they would have a real big problem and they would have to rely on bringing people over here, separating people more from families, it would be a real burden on the hospital system on Kauai, Wilcox Hospital. So that is one reason that Derek Kawakami has taken such an aggressive stance. And look, he's saving lives. And so thank you, and I think that the lesson learned. One of the lessons learned through this has been the impact on our medical health system, our hospitals and clinics and our medical resource people. I mean, if they get sick and there are no doctors or nurses, it is really not a matter of having a hospital. I mean, so we've got a couple layers there of really valuable resource that can be affected by COVID if precautions are not taken. Well, I know we've talked a little bit about the equity of the distribution of the vaccine and Hawaii's goals to get it done in that, you know, by the end of summer, maybe, but I also wanted to know about the resistance side of the COVID vaccine. As this, do you have estimations or expectations about what level of resistance is going to be encountered by the DOH and what that number might look like? I don't know if you're specifically talking about like what we might need to achieve herd immunity or if you're talking about, oh, well, in other words, there are people that are not. Oh, gotcha. When do I get it? Where can I go for the first? And then the other side of that is, well, I'm not taking it at all. OK, I'm not taking it at all. So what is this? Yeah, I'm really glad you asked about that because this is something that is working in all of our favor right now. Before the vaccine rollout, we did a survey and it was kind of disappointing in that it just showed that 50 percent of people were willing to take the vaccine at that time or we're going to think about taking it down the line. But there was there was very significant kind of vaccine hesitancy, right? But that survey stopped on December 14. That was the same day that the first vaccine arrived across the street between the medical center and after December 14, we started seeing people, Kukuna, your neighbor, your doctor, your your your pastor getting vaccinated. And you saw that they got vaccinated and they were fine. There were they were very few adverse effects. So as we got to see that, we began to accept the vaccine. And our most recent survey shows that up to 91 percent of people now say they plan to get vaccinated. So we went from 50 percent before the vaccines were being administered to after we got to observe it and had some time to learn more about it. Only 91 percent of people are willing to do it. It was 55 percent of those people said, I'm going to do it right now. And another 36 percent said, I'm going to get vaccinated. I'm just going to wait a little more. I'm not in any hurry. The 91 percent and if that number is accurate, if we can get to 91 percent, I'll tell you, we'll be in good shape. We need really good news. I mean, it's and we might be a leader in the state like leave the nation in certainly with the Kauai circumstances of almost nothing over there. And then for this participation and of course, the respect for the kupuna here has just been so we do model things for the rest of the states to pay attention to. I hope we get some credit for that or that only does. You know, we've got about a minute left. What do you want to say and share with us in that remaining time? Well, yes, thank you. I'll tell you another area where we're leading is the acceptance of the vaccine by residents and employees of long term care facilities. We are way above the national average. The residents are accepting the vaccine. The employees are accepting the vaccine, which is great news for the employees, their families and the people they work for at those long term care facilities. So that's great news. And I would definitely love to point out the fact that look, we've had a couple of variants arrive here in the state lately, and we need to protect ourselves from them, even if we haven't been vaccinated. And you know how to do it. Mask up, practice physical distancing and stay out of large gatherings, whether it's a variant or just your common old COVID-19, those things, the mask, physical distancing and avoiding large crowds will keep you safe. So we need to do that now more than ever to keep those variants away while we all wait for our turn to be vaccinated and when it's your turn. We hope you want to be back. And then we must go on with the masks because we do have these variants and also some other vulnerabilities that to that COVID virus too, right? So that we go on with masking for quite a while, probably the rest, at least the rest of this year, is that what people are thinking? What if they're thinking about this at all as far as afterwards? Yes, that is very likely. We want to keep masking afterward because we want to squash this thing, right? Let's banish it. Let's get rid of it completely. And so we we got to keep doing the good practices. Well, thank you, Brooks. This has been so informative and it's good news for the most part. Everybody is working so hard to make it happen and make it happen on that timeline, because everybody wants out of this as fast as we can go. It would be so lovely to go back to the movies again and a few other things. Everybody's missing, but it's a low time and we'll have to wrap it up. I'm your host, Stephanie Stulldahlton. And this show is State of the State of Hawaii on Pink Tech Live. We've been talking with Brooks Baer, spokesperson from the Department of Health about Hawaii's COVID-19 defense and public recording of vaccinations across the state. I'll see you again in two weeks for the next show and Mahalo for your attention. And Aloha.