Hawaii officials announce "vaccine passport" for interisland travelers who have received both COVID-19 vaccinations

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Gov. David Y. Ige | governor.hawaii.gov

Inter-island travelers who have received both vaccinations for COVID 19 will soon be able to skip the currently required quarantine and examination procedures, according to a press report.

Gov. David Ige announced the exemption, nicknamed the "vaccine passport," on April 20 at a press conference.

"Together, we’ve made a decision to start with the inter-county travel program for those vaccinated in the state of Hawaii, because we can verify the information and their vaccination status,” Gov. David Ige said. "It will allow us to validate the screening process necessary, and I think, most importantly, learn about what kinds of bottlenecks and delays it might inject into our screening process for inter-island travel.”

According to Maj. Gen. Kenneth Hara, Hawaii officials are collaborating with two vendors, Common Pass and Clear, in order to verify vaccines administered outside of the state.

“We’re continuing to work with companies that in the future may provide the same assurance of integrity for domestic and international travel,” Hara said, “Until then, trans-Pacific travelers will have the option of avoiding mandatory quarantine (by) following the Hawaii Safe Travel pre-test program requirements.

 Hara also said the state aims to introduce the vaccine passport-type program for trans-Pacific travelers by summer, despite claims that verifying out-of-state vaccines is more complicated.

“Additionally, the Hawaii Department of Health closely monitors the vaccination rates and (coronavirus) cases around the world,” Hara said. “The sooner we move to herd immunity, the sooner we can get to the new accepted norm, and my hope is that we sunset the Safe Travels program altogether.”

In order to qualify, travelers must fill out an electronic form on the Safe Travels website, upload a copy of their vaccination card and bring the original vaccination card, all of which will be reviewed upon arrival.

Exemptions from quarantine and testing will only be granted to those who received their vaccinations in-state and are traveling to and between neighboring islands.

The digital platform will go live on May 7 for flights departing on May 11, but it will not initially validate the cards; instead, screeners will do so.