Maui Mayor Reminds Travelers Only Original Vaccine Cards Will Get Them Out of COVID-19 Testing — No Photocopies

Cailey Rizzo
·2 min read

Fully vaccinated travelers heading to Maui will not need to take a COVID-19 test upon arrival if they can prove they're fully vaccinated with original proof of their shot, the Hawaiian county reminded travelers recently.

"We remind trans-Pacific travelers that they need to provide proper documentation to be exempted from the post-arrival test," Mayor Michael Victorino said in a press release. "We need an original CDC vaccination card or a certificate of vaccination from the CDC. We are not accepting copies or photos of vaccination cards."

Travelers can either bring their CDC vaccination cards with them or download a certificate of vaccination from the CDC's Vaccine Administration Management System.

Last month, Maui officials announced that they would add a second mandatory COVID-19 test to anyone arriving from across the Pacific. Anyone who did not take the test would be subject to a 10-day quarantine.

Maui
Maui

Michael Siluk/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Regardless of a traveler's vaccination status, visitors must comply with all pre-departure requirements for visiting Maui. All travelers must show a negative COVID-19 test, taken within 72 hours of arrival in Maui.

A traveler is not considered fully vaccinated until at least 14 days have passed since they received their second shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or one shot of Johnson & Johnson.

About 30% of travelers who have landed in Kahului Airport this month were documented as fully vaccinated and able to skip the post-arrival testing, according to the mayor's press release. More than 40,700 travelers took a rapid test (the cost of which is covered by the state) and 17 tested positive. Additional testing confirmed that two of those tests were indeed positive. Those cases were "addressed immediately" by the Maui District Health Office.

Earlier this month, Hawaii launched its own vaccine passport, allowing those who have been vaccinated in Hawaii to travel freely between the islands. The program is expected to be rolled out to visitors eventually — although the state has not yet released a timeline.

Cailey Rizzo is a contributing writer for Travel + Leisure, currently based in Brooklyn. You can find her on Twitter, Instagram, or at caileyrizzo.com.