Hawaii COVID Testing

[neurosx1983]

Interesting that vault is now saying on their website that they don’t recommend using the service if the flight is on Tuesday or Wednesday because of weekend turnaround times…

 

[cgattis]

Awesome!!! Glad you had a good experience to help wash away all the stress leading up to it!

Please start a Maui trip thread with a few highlights (or lowlights if you have any), if not a full trip report! We’re planning to stay in Hana and Wailea in 2022 so would love your thoughts! Have a great trip!!

 

[DRussell83]

Here - vault received our samples but not processed yet - people were waiting in the airport for results not sure how long they were going to let them wait - in San Diego they just said numerous times to have your results but never checked.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

You have to keep in mind that Vault pivoted to providing COVID testing. They're a startup that was focused on something entirely different, and are going an opportunistic route.

Scaling is a huge issue for any testing operation, but especially for an operation that wasn't primarily focused on testing protocols to start with.

I give you how their website still describes itself in a Google result. (For those that know HTML/webdev, this is straight out of the metadata they set for themselves.)



Their Series A funding in March, before things went weird, they described themselves as offering "identification and treatment services for men to improve their sexual, physical, and cognitive performance, including testosterone replacement therapy, erectile and ejaculatory function, fat loss, muscle and endurance building, and prevention treatments for mental decline, enabling men to a personalized approach to healthcare and boost their performance."

Which is to say: The timing issues of this fast expansion surprises no one who knew about this.

 

[neurosx1983]

You have to keep in mind that Vault pivoted to providing COVID testing. They're a startup that was focused on something entirely different, and are going an opportunistic route.

Scaling is a huge issue for any testing operation, but especially for an operation that wasn't primarily focused on testing protocols to start with.

I give you how their website still describes itself in a Google result. (For those that know HTML/webdev, this is straight out of the metadata they set for themselves.)

View attachment 540255

Their Series A funding in March, before things went weird, they described themselves as offering "identification and treatment services for men to improve their sexual, physical, and cognitive performance, including testosterone replacement therapy, erectile and ejaculatory function, fat loss, muscle and endurance building, and prevention treatments for mental decline, enabling men to a personalized approach to healthcare and boost their performance."

Which is to say: The timing issues of this fast expansion surprises no one who knew about this.

The other thing that I’d like to know is how does their deal with Hawaiian Airlines actually work? Did Hawaiian pay vault some extra money to ensure the customers get their results sooner? We plan on staying at four seasons on the big Island for the first part of our trip in December and they actually have their own expedited service with vault. But I don’t know what that actually means anymore.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

The other thing that I’d like to know is how does their deal with Hawaiian Airlines actually work? Did Hawaiian pay vault some extra money to ensure the customers get their results sooner? We plan on staying at four seasons on the big Island for the first part of our trip in December and they actually have their own expedited service with vault. But I don’t know what that actually means anymore.

And even if Hawaiian did, what are the terms of the other 760 deals they've signed, likely assuming that they could easily scale up because unemployment, not taking into account that actual test processing takes fairly specific skill sets.

 

[jaysonleah]

Interesting development with our Walgreens rapid (POC/ID NOW) test. We took the test this morning and hadn't heard anything after 12 hours. We called the PWN Health service center and the agent said my results WERE ready and they didn't know why I hadn't received them. He sent me a link immediately with the negative results. If you had the rapid test at Walgreens and haven't heard anything after 12 hours you might want to call (315-401-7865).

Is the ID NOW test a confirmed NAAT test making it usable for the safe traveler program?

 

[Lilsia]

The other thing that I’d like to know is how does their deal with Hawaiian Airlines actually work? Did Hawaiian pay vault some extra money to ensure the customers get their results sooner? We plan on staying at four seasons on the big Island for the first part of our trip in December and they actually have their own expedited service with vault. But I don’t know what that actually means anymore.

It would be more likely that Vault, and the others on Hawaii's approved list are kicking back money to the state, not the other way around. Why else would they choose only certain companies to do their test where there are plenty of legitimate testing sites.

 

[StayAwake]

Is the ID NOW test a confirmed NAAT test making it usable for the safe traveler program?

Both the PCR (72 hr) and ID NOW (24 hr) test were confirmed as usable for the Hawaii safe traveler program. I see that it doesn't specifically list that on the safe traveler program website anymore. However, the FAQs on the Walgreens site say "The Rapid Point-of-Care (POC) Test (ID NOW) and RT-PCR Diagnostic Panel provided by Walgreens are nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT). Both types are approved by the state of Hawaii, however the turnaround results time may vary."

 

[jaysonleah]

Both the PCR (72 hr) and ID NOW (24 hr) test were confirmed as usable for the Hawaii safe traveler program. I see that it doesn't specifically list that on the safe traveler program website anymore. However, the FAQs on the Walgreens site say "The Rapid Point-of-Care (POC) Test (ID NOW) and RT-PCR Diagnostic Panel provided by Walgreens are nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT). Both types are approved by the state of Hawaii, however the turnaround results time may vary."

That’s great, thank you

 

[wdp]

Is the ID NOW test a confirmed NAAT test making it usable for the safe traveler program?

Yes. We arrived at HNL with the Walgreens ID NOW test results in hand this afternoon. We uploaded them yesterday. No line at all at the Ko Olina arrival/quarantine exemption desk at HNL. Cleared in 30 seconds.

 

[neurosx1983]

Thank you for letting me know. We don't actually have a rural route address, but our town of 11,000 people is hours from a rapid testing location. I have a feeling that unless we suddenly get one here in our town, this trip will have to be cancelled. My husband and I just aren't comfortable with white knuckling it until the last second to know whether we can get on the plane or not. We aren't ready to cancel yet, but will probably wait until about 2 weeks after Thanksgiving and decide then (or have it decided for us if Hawaii closes to tourists again).

As much as we were looking forward to spending Christmas looking at the Aulani sunset, the anxiety of getting a COVID test back in time was just too last-second for the type of traveler that I am so we have unfortunately decided to cancel. We will go back when things settle down and some sense of 'normal' returns. The islands will always be there, I guess!

Part of the problem with testing was that we decided that going to an urgent care was out because of the risk of exposure to actually sick people and we didn't want our son to get a swab. Hearing stories of Vault dropping the ball became the deal breaker. Anyway we will try our luck with WDW!

Hoping you all that DO end up going to HI have a marvelous time!

 

[reluctantredhead]

As much as we were looking forward to spending Christmas looking at the Aulani sunset, the anxiety of getting a COVID test back in time was just too last-second for the type of traveler that I am so we have unfortunately decided to cancel. We will go back when things settle down and some sense of 'normal' returns. The islands will always be there, I guess!

Part of the problem with testing was that we decided that going to an urgent care was out because of the risk of exposure to actually sick people and we didn't want our son to get a swab. Hearing stories of Vault dropping the ball became the deal breaker. Anyway we will try our luck with WDW!

Hoping you all that DO end up going to HI have a marvelous time!

Thanks.

I completely understand your rationale for trying your luck with WDW instead...I actually suggested that to my husband the other day. We are exactly the same kind of travelers as you are, apparently! He is reluctant, though, because we live in northern Michigan and he really wanted to go somewhere that would be virtually guaranteed to have warm, sunny weather in January...and that's why we'd chosen Maui. With central FL, it could be or it could be during our time frame -- I'll never forget the year we ran the WDW marathon and it snowed!

 

[emmarose298]

I did the Walgreens rapid NAAT test and got my results in two hours. The sweet spot for appointments for New Jersey was around 8pm four days before the day you want your appointment! The timing did change slightly while checking for days so we checked about every half hour.

 

[Paul Stupin]

As much as we were looking forward to spending Christmas looking at the Aulani sunset, the anxiety of getting a COVID test back in time was just too last-second for the type of traveler that I am so we have unfortunately decided to cancel. We will go back when things settle down and some sense of 'normal' returns. The islands will always be there, I guess!

Part of the problem with testing was that we decided that going to an urgent care was out because of the risk of exposure to actually sick people and we didn't want our son to get a swab. Hearing stories of Vault dropping the ball became the deal breaker. Anyway we will try our luck with WDW!

Hoping you all that DO end up going to HI have a marvelous time!

Totally understand the annoyance and stress of this COVID vaccine testing for Hawaii. We’re still trying to figure out the best strategy for our Aulani trip in Jan. That said, you might want to consider that Hawaii at this point is much safer than Florida, where the risk of infection and number of cases Is considerably higher.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

It's all over the news here (Maui), but Kauai has decided to opt out of the testing option and the governor gave his okay so all visitors will have to quarantine for 14 days starting Dec. 2.

 

[jodistrock]

Super sad here - We have canceled our trip...
The conference company emailed us a week ago & told us that they would not be holding an actual conference at Aulani & that we would have to live-stream the conference from our hotel. This & all the above worries & restrictions made us think that we can go somewhere here in the lower 48 states & live stream the conference. So, we are going to WDW since we have DVC points to use
We are high risk with being frontline health care providers and the surge is concerning. I'd hate to have a positive test before traveling or during travel... (I have already had COVID).
We will get to Hawaii in late 2021
Good luck to the rest of you! Have magical stays & safe travels!

 

[neurosx1983]

Totally understand the annoyance and stress of this COVID vaccine testing for Hawaii. We’re still trying to figure out the best strategy for our Aulani trip in Jan. That said, you might want to consider that Hawaii at this point is much safer than Florida, where the risk of infection and number of cases Is considerably higher.

You’re totally right… Cases are much worse in Florida than Hawaii. That said, something about Walt Disney World feels like they’re doing a good job with safety so we don’t mind going down there. Honestly the thing about Hawaii was that the stress of Covid testing and getting results back in time was a little too much. And with one of the islands going back into quarantine, it just seems a little risky.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I would also say that depending on where you are coming from it is easier to minimize exposure in travel going towards florida. Especially if you drive.

 

[Paul Stupin]

I would also say that depending on where you are coming from it is easier to minimize exposure in travel going towards florida. Especially if you drive.

Good point. We’re in LA , and our Hawaii flight is about the same as the one to Orlando. We flew this summer to WDW, and felt pretty safe...hopefully we’ll feel the same on the flight to Honolulu in January.