Headlines this week announced that travel to Hawaii would require a booster, but that’s not necessarily true – even if the Governor says so. Regardless, the announcement hurts struggling tourism businesses.
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False Claim: Booster Required For Travel to Hawaii
The headlines were everywhere this week suggesting that not only would travelers need to be fully vaccinated to travel to Hawaii but they would also need a booster shot before coming to the islands, here are some examples:
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Hawaii may require travelers have COVID booster shot to be ‘fully vaccinated’ ABC
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Hawaii May Require COVID-19 Booster to Skip Quarantine — What to Know Travel & Leisure
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Hawaii governor considering Covid boosters as part of state’s travel rules CNN
- Hawaii Travel Update: Mayor Announces Target Date For Booster Shot Requirement Forbes
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Proof of Covid Booster Will Soon Be Required to Visit Hawaii Frommers
That last one is perhaps the most egregious written by none other than Pauline Frommer, co-President of FrommerMedia and Editorial Director of eponymous guide books. Why is it egregious? Because it’s flatly not true.
The action that Governor Ige has proposed but not imposed would require those that are eligible for a booster shot to have had one or a negative COVID test within 24 hours of travel to Hawaii to avoid quarantine. Why is that such a huge difference?
Booster Eligibility
Not everyone is eligible for booster doses. There are age restrictions and a booster is not recommended inside of six months from the last shot completing a full inoculation (as advised by the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention – CDC.) That’s six months since the first and only Johnson & Johnson vaccine, or six months from a most recent Pfizer vaccine or Moderna in a two-shot vaccine series.
***Note: Commenters have reported that it’s now recommended to get a booster from the J&J one-shot as soon as two months, and five months from the two-shot regimen.***
Those who are ineligible for a booster remain permissible for travel to Hawaii and do not need to quarantine.
Negative COVID-19 test
Any traveler, regardless of vaccination status, can furnish a negative COVID-19 result within 24 hours of beginning travel to the islands. This reflects current international entry requirements for Americans returning to the United States, though international travelers must also have taken one of the COVID-19 vaccines with a valid vaccination record.
Travelers do not need to be vaccinated to travel to Hawaii, nor have their booster to avoid quarantine. Simply presenting a negative result is acceptable for entry AND free movement without quarantine.
Proposed Travel Restrictions Do Not Pertain to Entry
Notice that just Travel & Leisure mentioned the word quarantine. It’s a pretty important caveat since that’s the only part of the rule that “may” change (two points for that as well.)
Even those who have received the COVID vaccines, are eligible but have not received a booster shot remain eligible for entry and even quarantine-free travel with a negative test result.
Not Yet Enacted
While it seems like a foregone conclusion, and Governor Ige has the power to make it official, at the time of publication that had not yet occurred. Yes, it will likely happen, and yes, most of the sources above included the words “may” or “considering”, Forbes and Frommers found the fact that this rule has not actually been implemented was also unnecessary information.
While likely to go into effect sometime around mid-February (sources have the date at February 18th), nothing has officially changed in terms of entry or quarantine requirements at the moment.
Hurts Local Tourism Businesses
This issue came to my attention because a friend of mine owns Big Island Jeep Rental, a local car rental firm that specializes in off-road vehicles on the island of Hawaii. He pointed this issue out to me after numerous articles flooded his feed and cancellations began pouring in.
The proposed requirement itself is not that egregious. The coverage is incredibly damaging. Cancellations for Big Island Jeep Rental and others shared on Facebook is not a result of fully vaccinated travelers refusing to get boosters. In fact, more than 80% of the US is fully vaccinated (this report cites “nearly” but is dated more than 40 days ago since which another nine million have been vaccinated.)
Rather, these cancellations are a result of those who may not be eligible or advised to take the booster at this time.
How Much More Can Hawaii Take?
Business owners that have been vocal online have indicated that yet another shutdown – albeit this one is simply perceived or contrived – could bury their companies. Prior to COVID, Hawaii faced stiff competition and high costs due to its remote nations. With renewed concerns over a Hawaii booster shot entry requirement, false as it may be, is still damaging to businesses that have been through hell the last couple of years, more so than their mainland peers.
Conclusion
As a travel writer, I appreciate the need to get information out quickly and the difficulty in getting it right. I had a significant factual inaccuracy just a couple of weeks ago due to a poor translation in my source. It happens. But these aren’t inaccuracies, most included the correct information somewhere in their articles. Rather, these are intentionally misleading and many do not read this deep into a post. That leads to negative effects for both travelers and providers based on headlines alone and that’s entirely irresponsible.
What do you think? Would you have been misled by those headlines? Is there a duty to be clearer?
Small clarification about boosters. People who received a J&J vaccine are recommended to get a mRNA vaccine booster 2 months after their shot. For those who got Pfizer or Moderna, the booster is now recommended after 5 months.
If you wait for the government to give you advice, you will be way behind and sick.
The government advice 9n masks, vaccines, boosters, testing, daily activities and other things have always been behind or wrong. Stay home when possible. N95 double masked with surgical or cloth masks, check antibody levels, etc.
If this goes in to effect on Feb 18, being ineligible to get a booster would imply that you completed your vaccine regimen after Sept 18. I don’t really feel bad for anyone who waited that long to get it. It was freely available months prior.
When I saw these headlines with the word “may”, I skipped along with plans to check in when closer to our trip in May. I figured they would include provisions for situations like my family’s with a daughter turning 5 close to our trip if they make this rule. Did not freak out. Not sure why others did, seems like you’re blaming the article headlines for people’s inability to make logical decisions and/or to read further. So much for personal responsibility.
I certainly empathize with business owners everywhere, and certainly Hawaii, for all the extraordinary challenges of the last 2 years. And it sucks that they’re struggling with people who apparently extrapolate from headlines, but asking people to read a bit doesn’t seem that crazy.
@Steve – I believe that, as writers, we have a duty to try to deliver accurate headlines without completely contradictory information in the actual text or excluding critical information altogether. It’s pretty misleading and those headlines have real consequences for policy and businesses. Additionally, as a blogger, I have to defend a misleading topic with my readership (we are often called to the carpet.) Writers like Ms. Frommers can write anything they like with no need to defend it at all regardless of the real-world consequences for travelers who take her seriously nor the businesses caught in the crossfire.
I’ve never been able to understand why the same Covid test and/or Covid vaccination requirements are not imposed upon residents of Hawaii visiting the mainland instead of it being a one way street? Hawaii is the only state which imposes these requirements on mainland U.S. citizens.. Alaska doesn’t even require the same stringent requirements on mainland U.S. citizens.
It’s not punitive. Hawaii residents are treated the same as Mainlanders, arguably worse as they have to get tested when they’re on vacation before returning home. Hawaii is an isolated island chain that will always have limited medical resources. You could argue that requiring a booster ultimately punishes Hawaii Residents more as they won’t even be able to leave their state if they don’t get it. You can be an anti vaxxer and travel freely within the other 49.
What do you mean they can’t leave their state?
They would have to quarantine upon return, so they effectively couldn’t leave the state unless they were prepared to endure quite a hassle. The rule doesn’t distinguish between Hawaii residents and Mainlanders.
Just let Hawaii secede please.
I think you’ve got your tenses off.
“ FALSE: HAWAII REQUIRING BOOSTER FOR VISIT”
You then go on to list several headlines, two of which use the words “may require” one that uses “considering” and the last “target”. None of these mean that a booster is required.
Well… The CDC over the weekend just moved to goalposts (again) and changed the definition and label of being “fully vaccinated”. You now are considered “Up to Date” only if you’ve had as least one booster. So technically, Hawaii is requiring an official status of something that no longer exists, and if they claim that it’s the “spirit” of the requirement to be fully vaxed, then a booster is indeed required.
But this article itself portrays the facts incorrectly. You write “Forbes and Frommers found the fact that this rule has not actually been implemented was also unnecessary information.” But in actuality, if you read the the articles in question, despite what their headlines say, both of the articles actually DO stipulate the rule is not yet in place. Forbes clearly states “the state could soon update its tourism policies” And Frommers says “the new policy’s implementation is at least two weeks away.” I agree that headlines should more accurately reflect the article and that clickbait is annoying and unproductive. If you’re going to spank rival publications in blog post, then you’d better be accurate yourself. And you’d better do more than read the headlines.
Totally agree. As I said above—and I’ve seen no correction: requiring = now as in are now requiring.
May require = at some point in the future MIGHT require. All a little weird.
I am young and healthy and vaccinated. It frustrates me that now boosters may be required and they aren’t looking at antibody results. My blood work last week showed 12 times the baseline for antibodies and my doc suggested not getting boosted yet. Should be a follow the science and not one size fits all.
My family of 5 have a trip to Kaui and Oahu in April. 3 teenage boys and our first trip to Hawaii. We’ve booked flights, mountain tubing, Captain Andy’s and a Luau. We’ll spend over $12k when it’s all said and done and happy to do it. We are all double vaxxed. We will not get the booster. We don’t need it. We want Hawaii, but Hawaii doesn’t want us. If we wait for the negative test results the day before travel and the tests are delayed, we will be out the cost of the trip. If the directive is issued, we will cancel 30 days prior to ensure we get a refund. Very saddened by this, but not worth the hassle.
It’s time to end the Covid Wars. This has gone on too long. My family is in the same boat as yours, except my wife and I are boosted. My kids aren’t eligible for the boosters yet… and honestly, I don’t see a need for them to get a booster. I am as pro-vaccine as anyone you will encounter, but this shit has to end. Honestly, I think many people are going to need treated for their addiction to Covid hysteria. It should be a real diagnosis.
Kyle,
Your beef here is directed falsely at the media outlets, who with one exception, all offered accurate reports of what the Governor said.
I was about to confirm an Easter vacation for my family of four. We are all indeed vaccinated and my wife and I are boosted. Moreover, I was an early trial participant (and remain so) in Moderna’s vaccine study. My children (10 and 12) are fully vaxxed, but are ineligible for the booster.
I spent months planning this vacation and was looking forward to giving my children a relaxing/ educational trip. Vienna Austria was my first choice, but I decided on Hawaii because it didn’t require negative tests to arrive or depart. That is the ONLY reason I picked Hawaii over Europe.
It’s time to end the ridiculous Covid wars. Your beef shouldn’t have been with journalists, It should have been with your Governor. Requiring Booster is overkill pure and simple. It’s a virtue signal to the elite at best or a middle finger to the tourism economy at its worst.
You stated that the Governor’s mandate would only apply to people eligible for the booster. Will he require tests for people who aren’t eligible?
In short, your Governor is a moron and you should have called out his ill advised, half cocked announcement.
Get yourself fully vaxxed and boosted and move the hell on with your life. Have a condition that makes Covid more serious? Get fitted for an N95 mask.
Seriously folks.
Looking forward to taking my family to Disney at Easter now… and Hopefully Europe in the summer or fall. Hawaii was a once-in-a lifetime option… that just passed for my family.