mtanji@mauinews.com
The COVID-19 cluster at the Harbor Lights condominium complex is now up to 92 cases, with more testing to continue, a county official and a Harbor Lights representative said on Friday.
Volunteers, including residents of Harbor Lights, were scheduled to conduct more cleaning of the complex on Friday night, on top of the cleaning that has already taken place in public areas including staircases and elevators, Harbor Lights spokeswoman Laurie Robello said at the county news conference Friday afternoon.
When residents were notified of COVID-19 cases in the complex Christmas Day, Robello said, “there was no violence, no anger.”
dgrossman@mauinews.com
A nurse prepares a shot of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc., in Binghamton, N.Y., last summer. Maui Memorial Medical Center received its first 975 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine Monday, just as 12,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine arrived in Hawaii. AP file photo
Maui Memorial Medical Center received its first 975 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine Monday, just as 12,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine arrived in Hawaii.
Maui Health spokeswoman Mahie Wong said that the hospital had received the Pfizer vaccine and was storing it in the facility’s freezer. “We are expecting receipt of our Moderna vaccine for our long-term care residents and employees for our Kula Hospital and Lanai Community Hospital any day now,” Wong said. “However, we are preparing behind the scenes to be ready to vaccinate as soon as we receive.”
mtanji@mauinews.com
Maui’s clinics and long-term health care facilities are gearing up for the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine, which was approved for emergency use Friday and expected to roll out to priority groups across Hawaii this month.
The state announced Thursday that it would distribute more than 81,000 doses in December for the first-priority category of high-risk health care workers and long-term care facilities. Maui Memorial Medical Center could receive its first shipment next week.
At Maui Medical Group, which has five clinics islandwide, Administrator Cliff Alakai said Friday that they will qualify for the first-round distribution of the vaccine. About 30 of the group’s physicians practice at Maui Memorial, so they may be part of that facility’s distribution, he added. Maui Medical Group is still awaiting word on whether its physicians not based at hospitals and about 275 employees could also be included in the initial round.