George Kahumoku Jr. Shares COVID-19 Vaccine PSA “Life is beautiful… Be safe”

September 11, 2021 at 4:24 pm HST

Maui Grammy and Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award winner George Kahumoku Jr. took some time this weekend to share a public service announcement about vaccinations after recently losing a friend to COVID.

He cited a recent CDC study showing that vaccinated people are almost five times less likely to be infected, ten times less likely to end up in hospital with COVID, and 11 times less likely to die from COVID-19 than those who are not vaccinated.

“We are all involved as a community,” he said, reflecting on some lessons from life: “Nani ke ola” or “Life is beautiful” and “e pelekana” or “be safe”. He said, “Look to the future and enjoy your life.” In the words of his friend, he said, “Make a choice and get vaccinated.”

As the number of cases escalated, Hawaii saw an increase in the number of vaccine doses given. The weekly number of vaccines increased for four consecutive weeks as shown below:

• 21.-27. August: 27,893 cans
• 14.-20. August: 23,136 cans
• 7-13 August: 22,842 cans
• July 31 – August 6: 20,006 cans
• July 24-30: 14,670 cans

A recent survey commissioned by the Hawaii Department of Health “confirmed the need to make vaccination more accessible to those facing health and social inequalities and that vaccination can contribute to an individual’s overall feeling of mental well-being”.

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The survey was conducted among 445 full-time residents of Hawaii across the state to assess their perceptions of COVID-19 from April 20, 2021 through May 3, 2021. Since conducting the survey, the FDA has approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, which is now marketed as Comirnaty. Anthology Research has been tracking residents’ attitudes and behaviors in relation to the pandemic since April 2020.

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The highlights of the survey showed:

• In line with the introduction of the Hawaii vaccination schedule, vaccination rates increase with age. Young adults under 35 years of age were the least likely to have been vaccinated (55%), while 92% of seniors stated that they had been vaccinated.
• Immunization rates are lower in less affluent households. Of those living in households with less than $ 50,000, 44% are fully vaccinated, compared with 76% who are fully vaccinated among those living in households with total incomes greater than $ 100,000.
• Among the main races in the state, Japanese (71%) and Caucasian (68%) were more likely to be fully vaccinated than Native Hawaiians (49%) and Filipinos (40%).
• More educated parts of the sample or those with a university degree (75%) were more likely to be fully vaccinated than those without a degree (47%).

A full summary of the survey results can be found here: HawaiiCOVID19.com/TrackingStudy.

Several pop-up Covid-19 vaccination sites are available at different times and locations across Maui throughout September. A full list can be found here.

source https://www.bisayanews.com/2021/09/12/george-kahumoku-jr-shares-covid-19-vaccine-psa-life-is-beautiful-be-safe/