Nearly 500 DOE employees receive Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine ahead of resumption of in-person classes

Kristen Consillio, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser
·2 min read

Mar. 6—At least 484 Department of Education employees received Johnson & Johnson's one-shot COVID-19 vaccine today, as public schools prepare to resume more in-person classes after spring break.

The state Department of Health notified a list of public school workers just a day and a half ago giving them the option of getting the Johnson & Johnson shot this week or waiting to receive Moderna's vaccine at a separate clinic on Tuesday.

"It is gratifying to see that so many people recognize the benefits this new vaccine offers, " Health Director Libby Char said in a news release. "The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is similar to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in that they are all highly effective in preventing severe illness, hospitalization and death, but different because Johnson & Johnson is a single-shot regimen."

Angel Ramos, a vice principal at Kalakaua Middle School, said he did not hesitate to accept Johnson & Johnson's shot after watching Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden, reassure Americans that all the vaccines approved for use are good, according to an interview provided by the DOH, which did not allow the media on site due to patient privacy rules. Ramos was the first Hawaii resident to receive the recently approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The first Johnson & Johnson immunization clinic was run by the DOH Behavioral Health Administration at the Windward Comprehensive Health Center in Kaneohe.

Hawaii was set to receive more than 67, 000 doses this week, up from about 40, 000 shots a month ago. Federal approval of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is helping to accelerate the vaccination timetable for the state, which is opening immunizations to everyone 70 and above as early as tomorrow. Up until now, the state reserved doses for health care workers and residents and staff of long-term care facilities, as well as front-line essential workers, including school teachers, and kupuna 75 and older.

The Health Department has received 5, 900 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on Oahu, and another 2, 000 shots each for Hawaii island, Maui and Kauai. The shots will be distributed at so-called 'points of dispensing, ' or PODs, by the state's District Health Offices, as well as hospitals.

The DOH, which administered vaccines for public school workers from Waikiki to Waianae, said it would announce dates for additional groups soon. Go to hawaiicovid19.com to sign up.