At least three fully immunized Hawaii residents have contracted COVID-19, although coronavirus vaccines appear to have prevented serious illnesses.
None of the three individuals who received two doses of the vaccine and then tested positive became seriously ill or passed the virus on to others, the Department of Health said in an e-mail.
“This number is not out of what we would expect with almost 165,000 people in Hawaii who are fully vaccinated,” said DOH spokesman Brooks Baehr. “A vaccine with 95% effectiveness will protect 95 out of 100 people. This is another reason why we should all do our part to keep the number of cases low. The lower the prevalence of COVID in the community, the less chance that any of us – even those who have been vaccinated – will be infected. “
One of the cases was an Oahu health professional who contracted the virus after a recent trip to the continent. The worker completed the two-dose regimen of the COVID-19 vaccine in early January and traveled to several cities on the continent about a month later.
After returning to Hawaii, the individual and a travel companion were notified of the positive test results. Neither developed symptoms or infected close contacts, the Department of Health said, adding that laboratory samples could not be obtained for sequencing to identify a variant of the virus.
Health officials emphasized that vaccination against COVID-19 does not guarantee that a person will not contract COVID-19. However, vaccines are still preventing serious illnesses and saving lives, said Health Director Libby Char.
“Nothing is 100%. The important thing is that vaccination prevents serious diseases, hospitalization and death ”, he said. “This does not mean that you are completely immune and free from contracting COVID. Some people will not develop enough antibodies ”.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that vaccines in the United States are “effective in preventing COVID-19 disease, especially serious illness and death”. But CDC officials warn that “we are still learning how vaccines are effective against variants of the virus that causes COVID-19”.
The first data show that vaccines may work against some variants, but they may be less effective against others. “We are still learning how the COVID-19 vaccines prevent people from spreading the disease.”
Hawaii health officials have reported a new death from coronavirus – an Oahu man in his 60s with an underlying medical condition – and 66 infections, bringing the state’s total since the beginning of the pandemic to 449 deaths and 28,145 cases.
The new cases include 30 on Oahu, 20 on Maui, 15 on the island of Hawaii and one on Molokai, according to health officials. As a result of updated information, state health officials removed two cases of Oahu from the counts.
The statistics released today reflect the new cases of infection reported to the department on Wednesday.
The state is allowing residents aged 65 and over and those in the Phase 1c category to be immunized as of Monday. This includes essential workers in the hospitality industry, food services, transportation, water / sewage, construction, banking and finance, communications, energy, legal, media, public safety and public health workers, as well as people aged 16 to 64 years old. age with high-risk medical conditions. Hawaii received 62,530 doses of vaccine this week and expects to reach 64,670 doses next week.
Vaccines are just another layer of protection and residents must still adhere to precautions until enough people are vaccinated and “we have good immunity in our community,” added Char.
“We must think of this not as a panacea, but as another layer of protection. The most important layer of protection … wearing our masks, keeping our distance from each other – that’s what will keep us safe, ”she said. “Although we have been vaccinated, that does not mean that you have a free ticket to go and do what you want.”