Updates to Hawaii’s entry requirements will mean that arrivals will need a Covid booster to be considered fully vaccinated and skip the quarantine requirements for entry.
It’s been a year since the Covid vaccine roll out, and governments are grappling with what the term ‘fully vaccinated’ truly means.
Hawaii Governor David Ige announced earlier this week that he’s considering making changes to the guidance of the state’s Safe Travels program. According to his statement, the updates will mention that arrivals flying into Hawaii will need to show proof of a booster shot to be considered a fully vaccinated traveler.
While this is still being considered, Governor Ige assured that any updates to the Safe Travels program will be given at a few weeks notice.
As he said to reporters of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser this week, “We know that the community needs time to react to that, so we would have to provide at least two weeks for those who may not be up to date to go to have the opportunity to go and get vaccinated if they need to.”
What Are Hawaii’s Entry Requirements?
Hawaii’s current entry requirements mandate that all domestic arrivals (from other U.S. states and territories) need to show proof of vaccination or a negative Covid test prior to departure in order to bypass the 5-day quarantine requirement upon arrival.
Here are Hawaii’s entry guidelines in detail:
- Domestic travelers arriving to Hawaii without a pre-departure test or proof of vaccination will need to quarantine for 5 days upon arrival to the state.
- This quarantine requirement was updated on January 3 from 10 to 5 days in accordance with the CDC guidelines.
- Travelers can show proof of full vaccination to bypass quarantine and testing requirements.
- All passengers can upload their documents to the Safe Travels site and print it out before departure and show a hard copy upon arrival to Hawaii. Alternatively, travelers can show proof of vaccination in digital form via Digital Health Pass partners (AZOVA, CLEAR, CommonPass).
- Travelers without proof of vaccination can show a negative Covid test result for travel to Hawaii.
- All accepted Covid tests for travel must be taken from one of the state’s Trusted Testing and Travel Partners, no later than 72 hours prior to departure for Hawaii. According to the state’s guidance, test results that are digitally validated by Digital Health Pass Partners will also be accepted for travel to Hawaii.
- Passengers should upload their test results to the Safe Travels website or print them out before departure and show the hard copy upon arrival.
- If you’re traveling to Hawaii directly from an international destination, then the U.S. travel entry restrictions apply at departure.
You can see the official government guidance here.
Will Boosters Be Required For Travel In 2022?
As the virus multiplies and new variants cause travel cancelations and delays across the globe, it looks like updates will keep coming to travel entry restrictions in the United States and abroad.
The U.S. Centers of Disease Control currently considers someone fully vaccinated if they’ve received a full course (two doses) of a two-dose vaccine like Pfizer or Moderna or the single required dosage of a one-shot vaccine like Johnson & Johnson.
Currently, federal travel restrictions for the U.S. state that all international arrivals must be fully vaccinated (two or one dose proof) to enter, and a booster is not yet required to skip any quarantine or extra testing requirements for entry.
However the past few weeks however, some nations around the world have added a booster shot to their list of entry requirements for international arrivals.
