The immunization registry is a statewide information system that stores and tracks patient immunization records for 25 diseases including vaccinations for polio, tetanus, measles, mumps and now COVID-19.
“The Hawai’i Immunization Registry provides health care professionals with a patient’s individual immunization history. Providers can see when a patient was vaccinated and what product they received. They can tell when a patient is overdue for a vaccine and avoid administering redundant vaccines,” said State Epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Kemble.
The immunization registry was under repair when the pandemic began. A record of most COVID-19 vaccinations administered in Hawai‘i were entered and stored in the Vaccine Administration Management System (VAMS), which was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
COVID-19 vaccination records have now been transferred from VAMS to the refurbished immunization registry. Vaccination data on the Hawai‘i COVID-19 Data Dashboard is now pulled from the immunization registry.
Data in the registry is more easily parsed allowing DOH to determine and display more accurate data. For example, vaccinations recorded more than once in VAMS were identified and duplicate vaccinations were removed as the records were transferred to the immunization registry. Booster doses recorded by vaccination providers in VAMS as initial doses have been recategorized as 3rd doses. As a result, the number of initial vaccinations has decreased, but the number of 3rd doses has increased by 67,000 doses.
The Hawai’i Immunization Registry also enables DOH to identify non-Hawai‘i residents and remove them from the state’s resident vaccination count. While this slightly lowers Hawai‘i’s percentage of completed vaccinations from 72.5% to 71.1%, it provides a more accurate picture of the state’s vaccination effort.
“Moving from VAMS to the Hawai‘i Immunization Registry not only improves patient care, it also gives us more accurate vaccination data. We are committed to providing the most accurate data possible,” said Health Director Dr. Elizabeth Char, FACEP.
Information on where vaccines are available can be found at https://hawaiicovid19.com/vaccine/.