Tonga will rely on advice from WHO on the COVID-19 passport matter, said Health CEO Dr Siale ‘Akau’ola this week. Other countries are exploring the issue of COVID-19 passports as well.

Dr ‘Akau’ola said they discussed this topic with Minister of Health and WHO Country Liaison Officer in Tonga a few days ago, but so far, WHO has not made any definitive recommendation on it.

“Tonga will rely on advice from WHO on this matter but we are keeping our eyes open to what is going on in this area in other countries.”

Meanwhile, Air New Zealand plans to trial a digital vaccine travel passport for three weeks starting in April, on its flights from Auckland to Sydney.

The digital passport application called “Travel Pass” is developed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and aims to streamline the health verification process to help customers know what they need for international trips safely.

Debate on vaccine documents

The New York Times reported this week that vaccine passports, which will prove that the bearer has been vaccinated against COVID-19, is the subject of debate.

The idea of the vaccine passport is to allow families to reunite, economies to restart and millions of COVID-19 vaccinated people to return to a degree of normalcy, without spreading the virus, such as travelling internationally, or being able to enter local  spaces like gyms, restaurants and concert venues. 

While such passports are still being discussed in most places, Israel was the first country to roll out its own COVID-19 passport last week, due to its high vaccination rate.

Meanwhile, several European countries are also considering it. The USA is exploring options and some airlines and industries reliant on tourist and destinations expect to require them.

At the same time, it is also reported that the European Commission plans this month to present proposals for a “digital green pass” for EU citizens.