Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — In a press release issued yesterday, the Coronavirus Task Force updated the public on the status of vaccinations in the territory as well as announcing the final repat flight slated for July 29.

VACCINATION UPDATE

As of July 12, 56% of the territory have received at least one COVID shot. 49.7% are fully vaccinated. The vaccination of the eligible population data by DoH shows that about 90% of people ages 41-50 are now fully vaccinated, the highest vaccinated age group. Followed behind them are the 51-60 years old with 84%, then the 61 and older populations with a little over 78% who are fully vaccinated.

55% of the eligible population ages 16 and 20 are vaccinated, and 47% of those in the 21-30 age group are now fully vaccinated. 12.5% of the 12-15 age groups, which was recently approved to get the Pfizer vaccine, have also received both shots.

REPAT 7.0 AND THE FINAL REPAT 8

A total of 253 passengers arrived safely on the 7th repat on Friday, July 9, 2021 where they have been quarantined at Tradewinds hotel and Fatu O Aiga. 131 fully vaccinated passengers were released on Monday, July 12, 2021 from quarantine after negative COVID test results upon their arrival. The remaining partial and unvaccinated passengers are scheduled to be released today, July 14, 2021 after final testing.

The final 8.0 Repat Flight will be on July 29 and flight intake or registration at the quarantine site in Honolulu will be on July 18. A total of 270 travelers have been confirmed including standby passengers.

Chairman Lt Gov. Talauega said as Gov. Lemanu announced at the Fono opening, the third week of August will be the first commercial flight that will be operated by Hawaiian Airlines. The Task Force will be monitoring travelers who wish to enter American Samoa but all reservations and booking will be done by Hawaiian Air. Several outbound Medicaid flights are also being proposed to prioritize residents traveling for medical and other critical purposes.

The Task Force is close to finalizing a web portal similar to Hawaii’s Safe Travel Program that will centralize many of the travel and medical requirements before being cleared for departure to American Samoa. 

To date, 1600 people and 1 service animal have gone through pre-travel quarantine in Hawaii and 1552 people, 1 service animal, and 1 emotional support animal have been repatriated from the Mainland US /Hawaii. Some 200 people have been repatriated to or from Samoa and the Pacific Island region. 

VESSELS ALSO GET THE SHOT

American Samoa is joining a growing number of ports that now offer vaccination of crew members on vessels that visit our shores bringing goods and services. The shipping industry is sounding the alarm as global vaccinations of seafarers are going too slow to prevent outbreaks on ships from causing more trade disruptions, endangering maritime workers and potentially slowing economies trying to pull out of pandemic slowdowns.

Vaccines that are nearing their expiration dates and not being utilized by local residents are happily being accepted by vessels. Some of their crew members come from developing countries that supply the majority of maritime workers but can’t vaccinate them.

Talauega instructed DoH to inform shipping agents that American Samoa is offering free vaccinations if the vessels want it. He said it’s in American Samoa’s best interest to do this to make sure that our own people, especially those working at the port are protected.