As the coronavirus has surged and mutated for nearly two years, so, too, has Hawaii’s unique shield: the Safe Travels program.

Wisely taking advantage of the 50th State’s remoteness and island borders, Safe Travels requires all arrivals to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or test negative 72 hours before flight departure; failure to do either triggers quarantine upon landing. Last week saw welcome program changes: The quarantine period was shortened to five days, from 10, due to updated federal health guidelines; and a health questionnaire about symptoms was scrapped, having outlived its usefulness.

Further, the Safe Travels portal (travel.hawaii.gov) was updated to screen passengers arriving not just by air, but also via cruise ship. After a nearly two-year absence, Hawaii saw its first cruise passengers return on Sunday — a milestone that would’ve been more warmly embraced if it weren’t for the current COVID-19 surge fueled by the highly contagious omicron variant.

All last week, daily new cases remained in the four-digit level, and exceeded a stunning 4,780 on Thursday. Such record numbers are rightly raising vigilance on hospitalizations and intensive-care admissions, as well as concerns about Hawaii’s cadre of health-care workers getting overwhelmed.

So now, given unvaccinated numbers plus vaccine immunity waning across the state, Safe Travels should be looking to raise its vaccination bar to require the third, “booster” dose for those who are eligible. As a matter of public health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now recommends that, barring medical contraindication, all those age 12 or older get a booster shot six months after their initial Pfizer or Moderna two-shot series, or two months after a Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Optimally, Safe Travels’ vaccine requirement should be aligning with CDC’s updated immunization guidance, in the best health interest of travelers as well as the communities they’re mingling within. The state should be working apace to adapt computer capabilities to efficently incorporate the booster requirement.

Since its inception in fall 2020, Safe Travels has faced occasional criticism, even outright hostility by those opposing additional hurdles for travel. First-time fliers under Safe Travels can attest to a cumbersome process, especially challenging to folks who aren’t tech-savvy or don’t have a smartphone to display a state-generated QR clearance code.

But faulty as it’s sometimes been — spotty quarantine enforcement in the early months was a notable weak spot — Safe Travels has proven to be an effective gatekeeper, helping to keep COVID-19 from being easily imported and its spread in check. And that’s for the good and health of residents and visitors alike.

A big factor in the recent wave of holiday flight cancellations was due to crews testing positive for COVID-19 or having been in close contact with someone who had. With omicron spiking cases nationwide, discussions have emerged at the highest levels about a possible U.S. vaccination mandate for all domestic travelers, akin to Hawaii’s Safe Travels program, the only one of its kind in the nation. White House medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci said the U.S. should “seriously” consider a vaccination requirement for domestic flights — already a requirement for international arrivals — though also acknowledged it was unlikely to happen “in the reasonably foreseeable future.” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC director, also said a mandate was under consideration but was “not something we’re revisiting right now.”

For Hawaii, trying to keep our island state as healthy as possible while allowing freedom of travel continues to be a balancing act. Just eight months ago, before delta and then omicron hit, optimism swelled that Safe Travels would go away soon. Now, the program must stay in place for the foreseeable future. And just as the coronavirus has evolved for its own lethal purposes, so must Hawaii evolve its travel and community shields for the protection of its people.