Hawaii drops its booster shot mandate for fully vaccinated tourists

In a recent travel update, Hawaii has removed its requirement of vaccinated travellers to have a booster shot to visit as a part of its Safe Travels program. The announcement was made by the state's governor Ige on Tuesday.

The official statement released by Ige stated, "In making this decision, we considered declining COVID-19 case counts in Hawai'i, the continental U.S. and Europe. Hospitalizations have also dropped. In addition, we looked at Hawaiʻi's robust vaccination rates and the continued push by businesses and organizations to get their employees vaccinated and boosted for the safety of their families and the community".
Just a few weeks back, the governor had said that he would change the definition of "fully vaccinated" to include a booster shot and introduced the Safe Travels program in October 2020. The program allows fully vaccinated domestic travellers to skip quarantine by showing proof of a negative test before.

The island of Maui has also dropped that requirement and reversed course. To enter any restaurant or pub in Maui and Honolulu, travellers will have to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test.
Hawaii’s Department of Health is working on criteria and conditions to allow the state to end Safe Travels Hawaiʻi program eventually. Lt. Gov. Josh Green said that Hawaii is hoping to end the program by the spring. He further said that they have learned one thing about the Coronavirus that it does sometimes throw one a curveball.

The Safe Travels program was to end after Hawaii had achieved a 70 percent vaccination rate but then the Delta variant happened and the plan was dropped.