Question: Can kupuna still renew their state ID by mail? I wondered because that lady last week seemed to be having trouble getting a state ID.
Answer: Yes, if they are 80 or older and have previously submitted documents needed to receive a REAL ID-compliant (gold-star) Hawaii ID, according to Honolulu County’s Department of Customer Services. The reader you mentioned was not eligible for this service.
To answer other readers’ questions: No, the DMV will not mail the ID to you out of state; it will be sent to your Hawaii address. No, kupuna younger than 80 don’t qualify for state ID renewal by mail, according to the city. Also, note that this is for renewals, not to obtain a state ID for the first time.
For those who qualify, here is the process, according to the department’s website:
>> Eligibility: Hawaii residents 80 and older who are U.S citizens or have permanent residence status and are renewing a gold-star Hawaii ID for which they have previously submitted REAL ID documentation.
>> Process: Mail, email or fax a letter requesting to renew your state ID. The letter must include your name as it appears on the ID, mailing address, Social Security number (last four digits) or state ID number, date of birth, email address and signature. The signature will be compared with your signature on file.
>> Mail your signed and dated letter to Driver’s License Section, P.O. Box 30340, Honolulu, HI 96820-0340; email it to dl@honolulu.gov; or fax it to 808-768-9096.
Thursday’s column (808ne.ws/922kline) explained a different process, one that allows physically or mentally incapacitated people age 10 and older to obtain a limited-purpose state ID (not a gold-star REAL ID) without appearing in person; their guardian or caregiver would appear on their behalf and follow a three-step process to obtain the ID. That process is meant for people who are bedridden — not for those who can appear in person, even with some discomfort. We emphasize this because after the column ran we heard from some senior state ID holders who are not incapacitated but do struggle with standing in line for everyday tasks; they wondered whether the process might work for them. No, and for those 80 and older who already have a gold-star state ID, renewal by mail is a better option anyway: There’s no standing in line, and they will receive a federally compliant REAL ID, not a limited-purpose one.
Q: Before the new booster shots came out, my husband got three of the old booster shots, not two. We are getting older and he worries a lot, and long story short, he got more boosters than necessary for his condition. The last shot was several months ago. Now he wants the new bivalent booster. Will that be allowed?
A: Yes. “Everyone ages 12 years and older who completed a primary series is recommended to receive one bivalent booster dose, including people who previously received the recommended or more than the recommended number of monovalent booster doses. The bivalent booster dose should be administered at least two months after the last monovalent booster dose,” according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which covers this topic in its interim clinical considerations for use of COVID-19 vaccines.
Auwe
I’ve just come back from Las Vegas and admired their clean highways and freeways. I come back to Hawaii and am embarrassed and appalled to see our highways and freeways littered with cups, cans, boxes, coolers, etc. — garbage is strewn everywhere. Kamehameha Highway and along the H-1 by Pearl Harbor are especially bad. We say we live in paradise, and yet we trash it. — Reader
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
