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A new comprehensive report by researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization, or UHERO, finds more of the state’s residents are contracting COVID-19, fewer are getting COVID booster shots and the number of those impacted by long-COVID illnesses remains high.
The report was released Thursday and is based on responses from 1,627 adult Hawaiʻi residents to a survey administered in partnership with the Pacific Alliance Against COVID-19 during fall 2022. Researchers have a statewide cohort of more than 2,000 residents who are surveyed regularly.
This was the second survey developed to inform the design and execution of public health programs in the state for COVID and other disasters while addressing systemic health disparities. The first report was released June 20, 2022, and was based on survey responses in May last year.
Highlights of the Jan. 5 report include:
COVID outcomes and vaccination
Perceptions and views of COVID
COVID impacts
“Overall, as we enter a new phase of the pandemic, Hawaiʻi’s populations are becoming more confident that the worst of the pandemic is behind us, driving COVID-19 booster uptake down,” said Ruben Juarez, Hawaiʻi Medical Service Association endowed professor in health economics at UHERO, in a press release. “Significant impacts exacerbated by the pandemic, including long-COVID, mental health issues and the impact of long-COVID on unemployment, may pose significant challenges that warrant monitoring.”
The Hawaiʻi Department of Health on Wednesday reported 1,316 new COVID cases, bringing the statewide total to 373,514 cases since the pandemic began. There were 148 new cases reported on the Big Island. There now have been a total of 41,709 COVID cases reported on Hawai’i Island since the beginning of the pandemic.
Nearly 1,800 COVID deaths had been reported statewide as of Wednesday.
Click here for more from the UHERO report.
