To help with contact tracing and potential exposure, the AlohaSafe Alert application launched today for all of Maui County, the first county in the state to put into use Hawaii’s COVID-19 exposure notification app. The Maui News / TERRIE ELIKER photo

Health care and emergency officials held a vaccination trial run at the University of Hawaii Maui College on Tuesday in preparation for the first phase of the COVID-19 vaccine distribution on Maui.

Throughout the morning in the UH-MC parking lot, officials and students from several organizations practiced a drive-thru vaccination model that will be implemented once distribution officially begins in Maui County.

“The idea with the drive-thru is that we can minimize contact between staff and clients,” UH-MC Chancellor Lui Hokoana said in a news release. “Every run-through we did got better, as we worked through the details of traffic control, check-in, registration and the actual vaccination operations. It was thrilling to see 40 of our nurses out there involved in this effort.”

The state Department of Health Maui District Health Office, the Hawaii National Guard and Maui County Emergency Operations Center also participated.

The Hawaii National Guard Task Force Maui, under the direction of Col. Tyson Tahara, has taken the lead to help plan and organize vaccine operations, including Tuesday’s trial.

Communication is ongoing with the Molokai and Lanai community on how to meet the specific needs of their islands.

“This functional exercise brought up a number of areas that we will continue to refine as we prepare clinical and support staff to provide vaccinations efficiently and safely in the coming months,” Tahara said in the news release.

Shipments of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and possibly other COVID-19 candidates when approved, are anticipated to arrive weekly on Maui for distribution, according to the news release. The state is focusing on vaccinating health care workers, first responders and long-term care patients and staff first before moving on to other priority groups and eventually the general public.

Maui District Health Officer Dr. Lorrin Pang anticipates completing distribution to the first tiers of high-risk groups by Valentine’s Day. Vaccinations are distributed according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations.

The Maui District Health Office has been alerted that it will likely receive the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine sometime next week and can begin distribution shortly thereafter. Moderna has applied for emergency use authorization and will have a hearing before a Food and Drug Administration panel today.

The district health office also is in talks with Maui Memorial Medical Center, which will receive and distribute the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine directly within its organization to health care workers and physicians.

“The COVID-19 vaccination is voluntary and free,” Pang said in the news release. “Even though it will help to drastically decrease the threat of COVID over time, all of Maui should continue basic disease prevention behaviors such as mask wearing and social distancing until we can reach herd immunity.”

The Department of Health announced Wednesday that it had received another 3,900 doses of the vaccine made by Pfizer-BioNTech, rounding out its first order of 4,875 doses. The department has requested an additional 7,800 doses and expects them to be delivered next week, according to a DOH news release.

DOH said the state should receive 45,825 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine before the end of the year.

On Wednesday, Maui had 14 new cases of COVID-19, including 10 in Lahaina. The island is currently averaging 13.5 cases per day over a seven-day rolling period.

Maui County Mayor Michael Victorino said during a news conference that officials will continue to evaluate West Maui over the next seven days to see where the cases are coming from and if the county needs to take further action.

“We are at the tail end of the Thanksgiving weekend. We’re hoping to see some positive numbers by next week, as far as a drop, since the bars are closed and we’re not having bar-like activities,” Victorino said. “I’m always concerned with spread anywhere. There’s a large population in Lahaina compared to some of these other places where there have been clusters, so let’s just be patient and see what happens over the next week or so.”

Victorino asked for residents and visitors to follow all protocols this season to avoid “another spike” over Christmas and New Year’s as the increases after Thanksgiving.

“We tried it, we failed, so please let me ask you to consider having gatherings outdoors, keeping people physical distancing, and staying healthy and safe,” he said.

To help with contact tracing and potential exposure, the AlohaSafe Alert application launched today for all of Maui County, the first county in the state to have Hawaii’s COVID-19 exposure notification app.

Hana and Lanai were the first communities under a pilot program for the app, which notifies people who may have been exposed to COVID-19. So far, there have been more than 7,000 downloads of the app from the Apple Store and Google Play.

The AlohaSafe program is a public-private partnership created in collaboration with the state Health Department to roll out a series of digital tools to enhance health and safety.

“The AlohaSafe app helps people know that they might have been exposed to the virus and should consider getting tested as soon as possible,” Victorino said. “This is especially important now as our community awaits the broad distribution of the vaccine against the virus.”

Maui County Managing Director Sandy Baz said that 15 other states nationwide and the District of Columbia are using an exposure notification app.

The user’s identity is kept private from other users as well as from Google and Apple, developers have said.

During the news conference, Baz also said that 8,100 tests have been administered through the voluntary post-travel COVID-19 testing program, with 116 positive results.

Minit Medical Urgent Care will be available for testing from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday in West Maui, South Maui and Central Maui. All participants can pre-register at minitmed.com.

* Dakota Grossman can be reached at dgrossman@mauinews.com.