A drive-thru vaccine clinic is conducted on Lanai. County and state officials say that Maui County, especially rural areas, has made “great progress” on vaccines, with Lanai, Molokai and Hana nearing herd immunity, according to the mayor. MAUI HEALTH photo

Once lagging behind the rest of the state, Maui County has caught up in administering COVID-19 vaccines, with rural areas such as Lanai, Molokai and Hana nearing herd immunity, Mayor Michael Victorino said.

As of Thursday, 49 percent of Maui County’s population over 18 had received at least one dose of the vaccine, second to Kauai County’s state-leading 57 percent. Hawaii County is at 47 percent, while Honolulu County is at 43 percent.

Lt. Gov. Josh Green said during a news conference Tuesday that Maui County, especially its rural areas, has had “great success” in vaccinations.

Victorino estimated that Lanai had around 65 percent of its population fully vaccinated. He hopes the island can increase its percentage to 75 to 80 percent with a vaccination push planned soon.

“Lanai is very close. . . . Molokai is not too far behind,” Victorino said of the islands reaching herd immunity.

He added that Hana, too, is close to getting herd immunity.

Green has said that Hawaii will reach herd immunity when 70 to 85 percent of the population is vaccinated, which he anticipates will happen around July 4.

State Department of Health spokesman Brooks Baehr said on Tuesday that a total of 5,451 doses have been administered on Molokai and the department estimates that at least 3,032 people have initiated their vaccinations on the island.

Nearly half of the doses have come from Molokai General Hospital, which said Monday that it had administered 2,358 doses.

On Lanai, 2,606 doses have been administered, with about 1,510 people initiating the process, Baehr said. Of those total doses, 1,500 have been given out by the Lanai Community Hospital, which is operated by Maui Health.

For months, data showed Maui County struggling to catch up with the rest of the state in vaccine progress, though officials said this was due in part to records reporting.

In February, Green reported that there were about 10,000 to 12,000 undercounted doses in Maui County, which at the time was ranked last in the state in the percentage of population vaccinated with 9.1 percent, compared to 18 percent in Kauai County, 14.6 percent in Honolulu County and 12.7 percent in Hawaii County, according to DOH data.

DOH officials said that Maui was behind in uploading information on the shots because some sites were using paper registration forms.

Bridget Velasco, a public health planner with the Maui District Health Office, said on Monday that the office then brought in dedicated data entry staff to assist in getting paper vaccination forms uploaded into the online federal Vaccine Administration Management System, which is what DOH uses to report doses administered by county.

On Thursday, DOH data showed 99,814 vaccines administered on Maui — which does not include vaccines given out through the Federal Pharmacy Programs to places like long-term care facilities and nursing homes.

At Maui Memorial Medical Center, operated by Maui Health, spokeswoman Tracy Dallarda estimated that about 50,000 vaccines would be administered by the end of this week, including both the clinic at Maui Memorial and Maui Health’s expanded clinic at the Grand Wailea hotel.

Like the Maui District Health Office, which has seen the race for appointments slow in recent weeks, Maui Health is also “seeing a reduction in appointments beginning in May.”

Dallarda said the assumption is that with 47 percent of the eligible Maui population already initiating their vaccine process, “we may be reaching a tipping point.”

She added there may be some hesitation to get vaccinated due to issues with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, although Maui Health administers only the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

Maui Health anticipates keeping the shot clinics open though May and will continually reevaluate vaccine demand and adjust clinic days and hours if needed.

It is also examining data to see if there is a need for pop-up clinics in areas that have lower vaccination rates, such as Lahaina, Dallarda said.

The Maui District Health Office, meanwhile, has given out 18,572 vaccines as of Monday at its University of Hawaii Maui College site as well as through its mobile clinics.

Maui District Heath Officer Dr. Lorrin Pang has noted the decline in people wanting a vaccine and has urged people to turn out, warning of long-term effects of COVID-19 and saying that the sooner people are vaccinated, the sooner things can get back to normal.

The district office and Maui Health are partnering on a public service announcement campaign to encourage younger residents ages 16 and older to get vaccinated.

Dallarda said the announcements are slated to begin in mid-May.

* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.