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TAIPEI: COVID-19 “passports” to show people’s vaccination and infection history will be difficult to do in practice, but they are a good idea, Taiwan’s Minister of Health Chen said on Wednesday (December 2). Shih-chung, offering support to resume global travel.
The world aviation body IATA said last month that it is developing a suite of mobile apps to help passengers navigate COVID-19 travel restrictions and securely share test and vaccine certificates with airlines and governments.
That news came shortly after Australian airline Qantas said it would insist in future that international travelers get vaccinated against COVID-19 before flying, describing the measure as “a necessity.”
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Taiwan has kept the pandemic well under control thanks to early and effective prevention, and has been very cautious about when it can reopen its borders, which are still largely closed to visitors.
When asked if he thought the IATA COVID “passport” was a good one, Chen said such a thing “was not easy to do,” noting problems such as cross-country certificate verification.
“But we hope that this type of strategy will be developed, so that everyone can have a clearer idea of the health or vaccination situation” of the people, he told reporters.
“While there is no way it can be 100 percent, it would be helpful if an authentication mechanism between countries and ports could be developed,” Chen added.
Taiwan has seen a slow but steady increase in the number of imported virus cases, which has unnerved the government despite the fact that there are only around 100 active infections in total on the island that are isolated or under treatment in a hospital.
The government has responded with a tightening of measures, including imposing negative COVID-19 tests for almost all arrivals.
While other countries are exploring “travel bubbles,” Chen said that is not something Taiwan is considering at the moment.
A highly anticipated air travel bubble between Singapore and Hong Kong was delayed until next year, city authorities said on Tuesday, due to an increase in COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong.
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