Vaccine card program set to roll out for county Sept. 15

Mayor mum on full details, but says it will be a modified version of Oahu’s rules

A modified version of Oahu's vaccine card program is in the works for Maui County and is scheduled to begin on Sept. 15, Mayor Michael Victorino said on Friday.

During Gov. David Ige's news conference on staying safe during the Labor Day weekend, Victorino said he and his administration are continuing to work on the program and will announce details on Tuesday.

He has received approval from Ige for the program's initial stages.

While Victorino did not offer full details, he gave an example of how the program could work, saying customers would be required to show their COVID-19 vaccination card or have some kind of verification that they are vaccinated. Those who do not have the card could either sit outside, if the restaurant has outdoor seating, or do takeout.

When asked which businesses would need to comply with the requirement, Victorino said: "At this time, my staff and I are working on the final details, and we will be releasing that next week Tuesday, so at this time I don't have complete details to release to you or to the public at large."

But Victorino added that the program would not apply to private business employees, as the county will leave that up to employers on whether or not they will require vaccinations for their staff.

Beginning Sept. 13, Oahu's Safe Access Program will require all employees, contractors and volunteers of businesses -- such as restaurants, bars, gyms, movie theaters, arcades and other similar establishments -- to show proof of full vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test result each week in order to operate. Customers must also show proof of full vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test in order to enter.

Children under 12 years old are exempt.

For weeks now, Victorino has faced questions over whether he plans to roll out a vaccine program and has indicated that he had proposals for stricter requirements pending before Ige.

Since then, he has asked for voluntary compliance from residents to only go out for essential needs and avoid gatherings and for visitors to stay in their own resorts as much as possible and not venture out to Hana or remote areas where medical resources are thin.

Currently, Maui County is averaging 86 new cases per day with a 7 percent test positivity rate.

On Friday, Ige, the four county mayors and their top police officials pleaded for people to be safe over the Labor Day holiday as cases continue to rise and hospitals reach or surpass their intensive care unit capacity.

At a state Senate COVID-19 Committee informational briefing earlier on Friday, Hilton Raethel, president and CEO of the Healthcare Association of Hawaii, said that there are 223 licensed adult intensive care unit beds in the state. As of Friday, there were 224 adults needing those beds.

He said this means that many hospitals across the state have full ICUs or are above capacity. A "significant portion" of those in the ICU, or 99, are COVID patients, he added. Around 85 percent of COVID patients are unvaccinated, Raethel said.

Maui Memorial Medical Center is faring somewhat better, as it had 31 people hospitalized with COVID and five in the ICU, with one on a ventilator, according to the hospital's website Friday. In August the hospital saw a high of 40 COVID patients. The facility has 31 beds in the ICU.

Of those hospitalized with COVID at Maui Memorial, 24 are unvaccinated.

Maui Memorial cautioned that Maui County had 467 new cases from Aug. 23 to 27, and research has shown that about 10 percent of positive cases will likely need hospitalization within 10 to 14 days of virus onset, the hospital said in a news release. Based on those numbers, Maui County could see 46 additional hospitalizations within the next two weeks.

The hospital expressed concern that the Labor Day weekend could cause a case surge and a continuing rise in hospitalizations, which also worried elected officials.

"Our choices today and over this weekend can help prevent the worst case scenario for our health care system," Ige said during the news conference. "So please act responsibly this holiday weekend and moving forward as we battle this highly transmissible COVID-19 delta variant."

"Do it for the sake of your family, our community and the state," he added.

Jill Hoggard Green, president and CEO of The Queen's Health Systems, said that Queen's and other hospitals have expanded to accommodate the surge in cases and will continue to do so until they cannot.

Field hospitals could be set up, but there will also be a need for staffing, she added, stressing that people need to bring the cases down.

"If we all work together today, and wear our masks, get our vaccinations, stay safe at home, keep our bubbles tight, we can stop the transmission of the disease," she said. "If we do not, at some point ... and I think it's within the next month, we will hit a point that we are unable to meet the patients' needs."

Victorino echoed Green and other leader's sentiments to adhere to safe practices to protect the community.

"What you do over the next three days will determine where the state and the County of Maui goes," he said.

He advised people to do things outdoors, only gather with their immediate family bubble at home, watch football and stay off the highways so as to not tax first responders and fill up the hospitals even more.

"You can do it; you have done it in the past," he said.

Acting Maui Chief of Police Dean Rickard said during Ige's news conference that the department has additional staffing if needed and will pull from its support service and investigative bureaus to assist if needed this weekend in order to enforce the emergency mandates.

He added there will also be roadblocks to screen for impaired drivers.

Deputy Managing Director Josiah Nishita reminded the public during the county's news conference Friday afternoon that Act 185, passed by the state Legislature this session, makes it more efficient for state and county law enforcement to enforce public health restrictions.

This includes mask-wearing and limits of no more than 10 people gathering indoors or more than 25 people gathering outdoors. Violators could face a $250 fine, and the penalty could be doubled for a second infraction. Businesses not following rules could face a $500 citation.

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