© 2024 Hawaiʻi Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Grassroots Approach to Reaching Herd Immunity in Hawai‘i

AP Photo/Frank Augstein, Pool

The Hawai‘i Department of Health believes the state will still be able to reach herd immunity against the coronavirus, and it’s taking a grassroots approach to getting more residents vaccinated.

National health experts are not sure if the U.S. will reach herd immunity due to the spread of more contagious variants and vaccine hesitancy among the unvaccinated.

But locally, nearly 720,000 residents have received at least one dose as of May 5, a little over half of the state’s population according to the state's tracker.

Local health officials say there are challenges in convincing enough people to get vaccinated and eventually reach herd immunity.

CJ Johnson, a COVID-19 Outreach and Public Health Education Specialist, said one challenge in reaching people is the language barrier.

He said the state has numerous communities that primarily speak a language other than English such as Chinese or Filipino.

"We translate routinely into 20 languages and most of them are really significant populations," he said. "It is really resource-intensive to make sure that all of our information is available through this channel."

"I would argue, or I would advocate, that a lot of what we call hesitancy is just that our information has not always been symmetrically or equally amplified into communities that have very valid and reasonable questions about their health and safety," he said. "And we’re trying to address that and bridge that."

Johnson said the department is also partnering with community organizations and leaders to hold informational events and popup vaccination clinics.

Some local vaccination locations are now allowing walk-in appointments, such as Hawaii Pacific Health's Pier 2 location, The Queen’s Health Systems' Blaisdell location, CVS, Walmart and Sam’s Club pharmacies. Click here to learn more.

Casey Harlow was an HPR reporter and occasionally filled in as local host of Morning Edition and All Things Considered.
Related Stories