State quietly makes changes to vaccine registration process for most employers
HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - There’s a new registration process for many workers who would like to get COVID vaccine.
It’s a change the state Department of Health made quietly earlier this month ― never making an official announcement to broadly inform the public.
If you filled out a DOH survey to get employees vaccinated and haven’t gotten a response, you probably won’t. Officials say you need to connect with a vaccine provider directly.
Going forward, here’s what you need to know:
“If we asked you for a list of employee names, you don’t need to do anything else,” said DOH spokesperson Brooks Baehr. “But if you filled out the survey and we didn’t respond you should go to HawaiiCOVID19.com and have employees schedule their individual vaccination appointments.”
Between January and March, health officials say most of the surveys it received came from businesses who didn’t yet qualify for the vaccine.
“We got in the neighborhood of 15,000,” Baehr said.
To date, the Department of Health says it responded to about 3,800 surveys statewide.
The agency believes everyone who signed up who fell into Phase 1a got a vaccine along with the majority of those in 1b ― the first categories of essential workers to qualify for the shot.
Right now, the only agency DOH continues to line up appointments for is the Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association.
“So let’s say you have a hotel or restaurant that is a member of the Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association and you are an employee there,” said Baehr. “You can give your name to management. They will give it to the HLTA which will then provide it to us.”
Jill Hoggard Green, head of the Queen’s Health System, says because demand for the shot is so high appointments are hard to get.
“Right now my biggest concern is we don’t have enough vaccine for who’s on the list,” she said.
“As soon as we get additional doses usually that’s Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday you’ll see slots go up.They fill up very rapidly.”
In the meantime, DOH says it’s been sending out this email alerting people who submitted a survey to the changes.
For a full list of vaccine providers, click here. Some local pharmacies are also offering appointments.
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