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Hawaii's pre-travel test to be dropped for vaccinated mainland travelers

Waikiki Beach with sun bathers and swimmers
Source: Hawaii News Now

Honolulu, HAWAII — The state is set to hit a new benchmark on Thursday, allowing people vaccinated on the mainland to fly in without testing or quarantining.

It’s the latest stage of the state’s Safe Travels Program as Hawaii continues to see a flood of tourists from the continent.

Those vaccinated on the mainland will be able to upload a picture of their vaccination card to the state’s safe travels website as an accepted form of documentation for the program.

Under current rules, a negative COVID test within 72 hours of arrival is required for mainland passengers vaccinated on the mainland. The pre-test requirement was dropped for inter-island travel and those vaccinated in Hawaii.

The governor announced that change last month in hopes of having at least 60% of the state’s population vaccinated by early July. So far, 58.3% of people are fully vaccinated while 62.7% have gotten at least one dose.

The next benchmark to drop all restrictions and return to a pre-pandemic lifestyle would be a 70% vaccination rate.

“If we want to go all the way, all the way to 70%, it’s still a quarter of a million shots to go. At the rate that we’ve been going, about 3,000 shots per day, that could still take more than 2 months almost 3 months,” Hawaii Lt. Gov. Josh Green said on the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s Spotlight Hawaii.

The state’s current emergency proclamation is set to expire on August 6.

Read more at Hawaii News Now