Question: Recently, there was news about jury duty surveys being mailed out. People who get the survey will have to say whether they are a citizen of the United States. How is that defined?
Answer: “In general, U.S. citizens include persons who were born in the U.S., persons who were born abroad to parents with U.S. citizenship, and immigrants who became naturalized as U.S. citizens. Persons who are not U.S. citizens include permanent resident aliens (persons holding green cards), conditional resident aliens, and other immigrants who have not been naturalized,” according to the Hawaii Judiciary FAQ for the questionnaire, which is being mailed to 295,000 people statewide to build a pool for possible jury service in 2025.
Besides being a U.S. citizen, a prospective juror must be at least 18 years old, a Hawaii resident and able to read and understand English. Anyone receiving the jury service questionnaire has 10 days to complete and return it.
On a related note, in announcing last week that questionnaires would be mailed out starting Wednesday, the Judiciary also warned about jury duty scams. “The Judiciary wants the public to know that it does not have court staff or law enforcement call or email saying you have an outstanding bench warrant or summons for not showing up for jury duty. Generally, all communication about jury duty is handled through the U.S. mail, unless you called or emailed us to respond to a specific question. If you get a phone call you suspect is a scam, hang up without responding to any questions or pressing any numbers you may be asked to press. If you get an email that looks to be from the Hawai‘i State Judiciary, but did not email us first, do not click on anything and do not reply. Delete it immediately.”
Q: At 75, I have aged into the group recommended to receive the RSV vaccine. Is this an annual shot like the flu shot and COVID-19 vaccine? Can I get them all at the same time?
A: Health officials recommend respiratory syncytial virus immunization for newborns and infants, pregnant women, adults 75 and older, and adults 60 to 74 with certain chronic medical conditions or who live in nursing homes. No, “the RSV vaccine is not currently an annual vaccine, meaning people do not need to get a dose every RSV season. Eligible adults can get an RSV vaccine at any time, but the best time to get vaccinated is in late summer and early fall before RSV usually starts to spread in communities,” according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC says its recommendation for eligible adults applies to those who did not get an RSV vaccine in 2023.
As for your second question, yes, the CDC says it’s safe to receive COVID-19, flu and RSV vaccines during the same visit; there is no minimum waiting period between these separate shots.
Q: Regarding the absentee ballot, if I request that, will I then have to fill out another form to go back to my old address when I return there?
A: No. Hawaii’s Absentee Ballot Application, which authorizes a ballot to be mailed to a temporary address, is valid only for the election year in which it was submitted. The next election year, your ballot would be mailed to your permanent Hawaii address, unless you again requested an absentee ballot. You can read more about this on the state Office of Elections website, elections.hawaii.gov.
Mahalo
A big mahalo to the kind employees at Pali Momi Medical Center who found and drove us to our car when my husband couldn’t recall where he parked. It took much searching on their part to locate it. We greatly appreciate their kindness and patience. I’m very sorry I did not think to get their names. — C.L.
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.
