Results for Health

The arrival of the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines to Tonga from COVAX "is tentative for next month as per current plans", confirmed Ministry of Health Acting CEO, Dr Reynold ‘Ofanoa today.

The repatriation flight that was scheduled to arrive tomorrow, March 10, with passengers from Auckland, will now only carry cargo, confirmed MEIDECC CEO Paula Ma’u this morning.

The 107 passengers repatriated from Brisbane, Australia on 11 February, have tested negative to CoViD-19 in their last round of testing, confirmed Chief Medical Officer (Public Health) Dr Reynold 'Ofanoa today.

The repatriation flight from Auckland that was planned for 3 March has been rescheduled to arrive next Wednesday 10 March, confirmed MEIDECC CEO Paula Ma’u this morning.

Tonga hopes to achieve herd immunity for CoViD-19 by planning to vaccinate around 60-70% of the population by the end of the year, confirmed Ministry of Health CEO, Dr Siale ‘Akau’ola today. Tonga is on COVAX's tentative list to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Tonga’s Declaration of a Health State of Emergency will enter its second year of enforcement, under a monthly renewal starting from 8:00pm today, February 15 to March 15. This means the State of Emergency has been in force for a full year, since it was first declared on 12 March 2020.

A repatriation flight will bring around 122 passengers to Tonga tomorrow from Brisbane, Australia. Other flights scheduled for 25 February have been postponed to arrive in Tonga on March 3.

All 114 passengers repatriated from New Zealand and Fiji on February 4 have tested negative. However, from this flight onwards, arriving passengers will be quarantined for 21-days at the managed facilities, with no further home isolation required.

Tonga is finalizing its National Deployment and Vaccination Plans to access CoViD-19 vaccines from the COVAX Facility, and initial quantities are expected to be announced soon. Health CEO, Dr Siale ‘Akau’ola said COVAX is assessing the readiness of participant countries, who will have to make a contribution if they want vaccination coverage of their population to be increased. Meanwhile, some other Pacific countries have started their vaccination programmes.