Hawaii has a high percentage of fully vaccinated state employees, but those who interact with the public have a lower rate of vaccination.
On Aug. 5, Gov. David Ige (D) announced that state and county employees would have to provide their vaccination status or test regularly for COVID-19, according to Maui News.
"Earlier this month I instituted a policy that asked state workers to get vaccinated or take weekly tests to curb the spread of COVID. I’m happy to announce 87.6% of state employees are now fully vaccinated, and 4.8% are partially vaccinated," Ige wrote in an Aug. 25 Facebook post. "This will bring the Hawaii state employee vaccination rate to over 90% within just a few weeks. State employees have been doing their part during this pandemic to protect the public and keep the community running. We're leading by example. I'm now asking residents and businesses to help do the same. Go to HawaiiCOVID19.com to register to get vaccinated today."
Almost 5% of state employees overall are partially vaccinated, and 7.6% remain unvaccinated, according to state Department of Human Resources Development statistics.
The department with the highest fully vaccinated rates is Human Resources Development, with 96.3% vaccinated, according to Maui News. The department with the highest rate of unvaccinated employees is the Department of Public Safety, with 17.7% unvaccinated.