HONOLULU — Health officials had to revise the state’s coronavirus vaccination rate after providers counted booster shots as first doses.
The percentage of residents who received at least one dose was lower than previously reported and the number booster shots given is higher, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.
Last week, the state reported that 85% of Hawaii’s population had initiated vaccination, but revised that number to only 77% after discovering the reporting error.
The percentage of fully vaccinated was also reduced from 72.5% to 71.1%.
The number of booster shots increased from 159,054 to 228,892.
State health officials said providers incorrectly reported booster shots as initial doses.
Hawaii is using its own vaccination registry instead of the Vaccine Administration Management System developed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Moving from VAMS to the Hawaii Immunization Registry not only improves patient care, it also gives us more accurate vaccination data,” said Health Director Dr. Libby Char in a news release.
State Epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Kemble said the data overhaul will allow the CDC to correct a discrepancy between its data and state records for vaccination rates. The federal count had been about 10% lower than the state’s tally.