‘It provides hope for us’: Lt. Gov. Josh Green receives COVID-19 vaccine

HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - Lt. Gov. Josh Green publicly received Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday morning at The Queen’s Medical Center.

“I feel great,” he said. “This is part of the process. As a health care provider, I’ll tell you, as we’ve been taking care of patients, the health care workers across the globe have represented 20% of all the people who have caught COVID and when you consider taking care of patients, you don’t want to spread the disease.”

Green’s office said he was able to get vaccinated already because he’s also an emergency room doctor.

The lieutenant governor was diagnosed with COVID-19 in September but never experienced severe symptoms.

Jason Chang, president of The Queen’s Medical Center and chief operating officer of The Queen’s Health Systems, said even those who previously had COVID-19 are still urged to get the vaccine.

“The recommendation for both Pfizer and Moderna is if you’ve had COVID to still get vaccinated,” he said. “It’s the basis of protection against the disease.”

Green said he understands that many are still uncertain about the vaccine, but he says “people should not feel hesitant” as the vaccine is completely safe.

“It provides hope for us by having vaccinated population, vaccinations for all of us as we go forward,” he said. “It will mean that we don’t have to worry about outbreaks, it will mean that we can have our jobs opened up again and our economy to pay for people’s salaries, to make sure we have enough money for schools, to make sure we have enough money for health care.”

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