Five questions with Dr. Libby Char, director of the health department.

Overall, how do you assess vaccine distribution progress to date?

It is encouraging that so many Hawaii residents want to be vaccinated. Wide acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines will eventually help protect our community. People are anxious to be vaccinated and we are eager to vaccinate them.

Our biggest challenge is the limited amount of vaccine allotted to us by the federal government. With demand greater than supply, vaccine administration is not as fast as we would like. This pace exacerbates anxiety at a time when stress is already elevated.

We have been successful in getting the vaccine to our most vulnerable populations including kupuna age 75 and older, long-term care residents and health care workers. We are focused on vaccinating the people most impacted by COVID-19 and delivering vaccine to remote communities around the state.

The Department of Health (DOH) and all our community and health care partners are administering more than 75% of our allotted doses within a week of arrival. The process has been well-organized without long lines or wait times. The majority of those vaccinated so far have given us positive feedback.

We expect larger shipments of vaccines in March and April, which will allow us to vaccinate more people. We anticipate that everyone will have access to vaccines by the end of summer. We thank people for their patience.

Overall the program is going well, and we are waiting for more vaccines.

How does the presence of variants here — including the highly contagious U.K. strain — affect strategy for fighting COVID-19?

The presence of variants underscores the need to remain vigilant in our fight against COVID. To date we have detected three cases of the B.1.1.7 variant in Hawaii.

We know what works to prevent spread of the virus: wearing masks, maintaining physical distance and avoiding gatherings. The variant’s arrival makes these mitigation measures more critical than ever. It also affirms the importance of the state’s layered response that includes testing, contact tracing, isolation and quarantine, and a good vaccination program.

Our state Laboratories Division has increased surveillance and genomic sequencing to better detect and identify variants as soon as possible. Hawaii is doing well with genomic sequencing relative to other states. If we wear masks, maintain physical distance and avoid gatherings, we will help protect ourselves and one another from all forms of COVID.

Thoughts on the state’s Safe Travels program? Should fully vaccinated travelers be allowed to bypass pre-flight testing?

Safe Travels Hawaii requires a negative COVID-19 nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) from one of Hawaii’s Trusted Testing & Travel Partners within 72 hours of flying here. We do not yet have data necessary to know whether a vaccinated individual can still spread the disease and infect others. We do not know how long people are immune after vaccination or whether they can still transmit the virus.

The DOH continues to monitor the most recent data and guidance on safe travel following vaccination. At some point we may be able to recommend an exemption once a person is fully vaccinated. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) urges people not to travel during the pandemic.

Also, isolation and quarantine are important to allow people exposed or infected a safe place to recover. This also controls outbreaks by preventing those infected from spreading germs to others.

How does your emergency medicine background inform your leadership in contending with the pandemic?

Emergency medicine involves making decisions when we have incomplete data or information. Similarly, there is much we do not yet know about COVID-19, but decisions must be made in a timely manner. We synthesize what we do know and what is reasonable and try to make educated, informed, good decisions, knowing that these decisions may have far-reaching implications. We need to be flexible and sometimes modify decisions as more data becomes available.

We also need to seek out experts who may have more comprehensive understanding and varied perspectives. Together we work cooperatively, share ideas and find solutions to get to the best possible decisions and actions. These partnerships and collaborations are vital to a good response.

What are your short-term and/or long-term priorities for the Health Department?

The DOH has many programs that serve the entire state, and we need to make sure we are continuing to meet the needs of all our communities as best we can during the pandemic. We must watch for and explore opportunities that arise related to COVID and put those lessons to work to create more streamlined and efficient ways of functioning and responding to public health emergencies.

We need to convert the processes and programs created for COVID to benefit the state well beyond COVID. The silver lining in this pandemic will hopefully be a more robust and stable public Health Department that’s better positioned to handle the challenges yet to come.

The bio file

>> Title: Hawaii Health Department, director

>> Professional background: Board-certified emergency physician; served as Honolulu’s director of Emergency Services and as medical director for fire departments and EMS in Hawaii

>> Education: Proud product of Hawaii’s public K-12 schools system; M.D. degree from University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine

>> One more thing: “This is the first pandemic any of us has ever been through. We need to remember that we are in uncharted waters and there is a lot more that we will learn about COVID-19. The disease is evolving and we, along with it. We will get through it together and we will be positioned a lot better if we remember to be kind to each other, help each other and all pitch in as a community with everybody doing their part, no matter how big or small.”