More than 98% of COVID-19 cases in Hawaii are among people who aren’t vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to Hawaii Department of Health leaders who spoke on the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s “Spotlight” program on Wednesday.

Fewer than 2% of the state’s COVID-19 cases are so-called breakthrough cases among people who have already been vaccinated. Five people who were vaccinated against coronavirus were both infected and hospitalized.

No one who was vaccinated and caught the virus has died of COVID-19 in Hawaii.

“Getting your shot really is the best protection,” said acting state epidemiologist Sarah Kemble, who shared the data Wednesday along with Health Department Director Libby Char.

Kemble noted that most pediatric COVID-19 cases in Hawaii occur because children get infected in their households and said that having unvaccinated adults in a household can put children at risk.

More than 57% of Hawaii’s population has been vaccinated and more than 62% have initiated vaccinations. The Health Department’s website has information about how the vaccine works and where to get it.

Currently there are striking geographic disparities in vaccinations due to a variety of factors, including limited access to the vaccines that the state is trying to address. Surveys have found there also an estimated 9% to 12% of Hawaii residents who don’t plan to get vaccinated at all.

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