Hawai‘i Inter-County Travel Restrictions to be Lifted June 15; All Travel Restrictions to End at 70% Vaccination Rate

Governor David Ige today unveiled a list of benchmarks he has set for lifting restrictions on travel based on the statewide vaccination rates in Hawaiʻi.

Restrictions on Inter-County Travel to be Lifted June 15

• On Tuesday, June 15, the state of Hawaii will end restrictions on inter-county travel. “There will be no testing and no quarantine requirements for inter-county travel,” said Gov. Ige. All inter-island travel restrictions will be dropped. By mid month, Gov. Ige said he expects that Hawaiʻi will reach or be close to 55% fully vaccinated. Those who are in quarantine will not be able to travel.
• Also beginning on June 15, there will be a quarantine exemption for incoming travelers to the state who are verified to have been vaccinated in Hawaiʻi. If travelers have been vaccinated in Hawaiʻi, and the state can verify that, they will be able to bypass quarantine without a pre-travel test when returning to Hawaiʻi from the mainland.

At 60% Vaccination Rate

• When the state’s fully vaccinated rate reaches 60%, the state will accept proof of vaccination through the Safe Travels program, for domestic travel including trans-Pacific travelers vaccinated in the US and traveling from the continental US, Alaska and the US territories to Hawaiʻi.

At 70% Vaccination Rate, Safe Travels Ends

• When the state’s fully vaccinated rate reaches 70%, ALL restrictions on travel will be lifted and the Safe Travels program will end. Gov. Ige said that at this benchmark, he plans to drop the indoor mask mandate as well.

“Again, we will be monitoring the health situation, and should there be a spike or an increase in cases, we will take appropriate action,” said Gov. Ige.

“All of this is subject to continuing monitoring of the DOH for the impact of variants and other health determinants in our community such as health care capacity and other public health measures. We will always take appropriate action should there be a public health crisis in our community. I can and will change policies based on the health conditions that we see and the rate of virus circulating in our community,” said Gov. Ige.

“Vaccination is such an important part of keeping our families and communities health and safe that I am now making the fully vaccinated rate a major consideration as we make policy decisions here for our community in Hawaiʻi,” said Gov. Ige.

Hawai‘i is currently at a 52% completed vaccination rate. “That is truly something to celebrate together. We are that much closer to protecting the public health, reenergizing our economy and strengthening our community,” said Gov. Ige during an afternoon press briefing.

“The evidence is clear. There are dramatically fewer COVID cases among those who have been vaccinated. It’s also true that the virus continues to circulate in our communities among people who have not been vaccinated,” said Gov. Ige, noting that unvaccinated individuals are still vulnerable to serious illness, hospitalization and death. “That’s why we’ve designated June as Hawaiʻi Got Vaccinated month.”

Vaccination Incentives Unveiled

The campaign includes expanded walk-in hours and more than 300 pop-up clinics throughout the state in the month of June. The state also launched a higotvaccinated.com website where individuals who got vaccinated in Hawaiʻi are able to enter for a chance to win various prizes. The page crashed a couple of times during the press briefing with at least 500 individuals entering before the conference concluded.

Prizes include but are not limited to: one-million HawaiianMiles split up into 10 prizes consisting of 100,000 HawaiianMiles each for a retail value of approximately $3,000; a one year auto lease on an SUV or sedan from Autosource Hawaii; Zippy’s for a year to be awarded in the form of a $6000 Zippy’s Gift Card; a Vacations Hawaiʻi Vegas package for two; and one of four pairs of roundtrip tickets on Alaska Airlines.

I know many of us are ready to get back to “normal,” and increasing vaccination rates will help get us there more quickly,” said Gov. Ige.

Maui Mayor Michael Victorino issued a statement on the County of Maui Facebook page today giving thanks to the governor for his plans to ease travel restrictions for Hawaiʻi residents and domestic trans-Pacific travelers once benchmarks have been reached. The mayor said he is grateful to have contributed to this change.