We hope your summer has been restful and enjoyable so far. It's amazing how quickly time passes. We still can't believe that Back to School is just over five weeks away!
We did want to send a reminder about uploading your keiki's vaccination card to the Mo'omō'ali Olakino Electronic Health Records portal if they have already received their second dose of the Pfizer vaccine. Knowing where our kula community is at with vaccination rates is critical to informing our plans for next school year. If you have already done so, MAHALO NUI LOA!
Vaccination, while remaining a personal choice, is another layer of protection for our community and gives us the clearest path to return to normalcy as we reopen in August. Vaccination is the key to getting back to pre-pandemic school life. Updates can be made at ohana.ksbe.edu.
Instructions on how to complete the update are available on our website.
NOTE: The status won't change until the student has reached "fully vaccinated" status (two weeks after the second dose)
We encourage all students, ʻohana, faculty, and staff to become fully vaccinated as soon as possible. For ʻohana where keiki are not age-eligible to receive the vaccine, we are encouraging all members of their household to get vaccinated to further reduce the risk and spread of the virus.
If you haven’t already gotten your first shot, the date to initiate your vaccination to be fully vaccinated by the start of the school year, is this Thursday, July 1! Doing so will allow you to get your second dose on July 22, and have the two week needed to be fully vaccinated by August 5.
And as soon as you do receive your second dose, be sure to update your electronic health record with your updated vaccination status.
Our third on-campus vaccination clinic takes place on Saturday, July 10. If you still need to get your 2nd dose by then (and didn’t get your 1st dose at the June 19 clinic), or even if it would be your first and you are interested in participating, email us at kshawaii@ksbe.edu for more information.
WHY PROVIDE AN UPDATE NOW?
Helping us understand the number of vaccinated haumāna in our learning community will guide our planning of the types and frequency of activities that can take place and how we are able to come back to school.
There are additional benefits of doing so:
- No daily wellness checks -
Vaccinated students will no longer need to complete daily wellness checks. Upon verification of vaccination status, students will receive a vaccination badge email, which can be screenshot, saved, or printed to be shown in place of the normal green happy face email each morning.
- No quarantine for close contacts -
Vaccinated students identified as close contact, whether at school or through other school activities, will not need to complete a 10-day quarantine, in alignment with Hawaiʻi and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidance.
As more and more of our kula become fully vaccinated, we are able to replace or modify some of the layered safety protocols currently in place, keeping health and safety as our priority and reducing the risk of spread of this virus. We will notify you as modifications are made, in alignment with the latest guidance from the CDC, and in compliance with any state or county mandates.
OTHER OPPORTUNITIES TO GET VACCINATED
There are additional opportunities to receive a COVID-19 vaccination in our communities if the campus clinic date doesn't meet your schedule. To see a list of available sites on our island, visit the County of Hawaiʻi's Coronavirus response portal.
Hilo Medical Center also has a walk-in clinic this week and next (Tues.-Friday) from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and are also hosting a walk-in clinic at The Arc of Hilo from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Tues. - Friday).
Another resource for finding where the Pfizer COVID-19 is being offered in our community is the CDC Vaccine Finder: https://www.vaccines.gov/search/ It will let you know which providers (like CVS/Longs) and specific locations are offering the Pfizer vaccine.
If there are any questions or additional information needed about these vaccination opportunities, please email kshawaii@ksbe.edu.
Mālama pono!
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ks hawaii,covid-19,vaccination
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Kaipuolono Article, Hawaii Newsroom, Hawaii Middle School, Hawaii High School, Newsroom, Campus Programs, Hawaii, Hawaii campus
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