Biden Admin Imposes Vaccine Requirement on Canadians, Mexicans Entering by Land

The United States is set to reopen its borders to fully vaccinated travellers by air, land or passenger ferry starting Nov. 8.

Air travellers will need to show proof of vaccination on arrival in the U.S. but will still need to show a pre-departure negative COVID-19 test taken within three days of boarding their flight.

Non-essential travellers crossing at a land border will be required to show proof of vaccination or attest to their vaccination status upon request by a border agent — but unlike air travellers they will face no requirement to show a negative COVID-19 test.

Canada is still requiring all travellers entering the country to provide proof of a negative test, regardless of their point of entry.

By January, essential travellers crossing into the U.S. at a land border will also be required to be fully vaccinated.

Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said Canada is considering following suit with its own policy to require essential workers crossing the border to be fully vaccinated.

“If there is an opportunity, and I believe there is, for fully vaccinated travellers, even among essential travellers, to provide greater assurances … I think it’s something certainly we’ll be exploring,” Blair told Rosemary Barton in an interview for the CBC’s Rosemary Barton Live airing Sunday.

A number of details are still being worked out by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC). They include the type of documentation that will be accepted to prove a traveller’s vaccination status.

The CDC has informed affected airlines that any vaccine approved in the U.S, as well as vaccines that have been approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization, will be accepted for air travel.

The Canada-U.S. border has been closed to non-essential travel since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Canada opened its border to U.S. travellers in early August.

U.S. President Joe Biden and his administration have been under increasing pressure in recent weeks to follow Canada’s lead and open the border to non-essential travel.

The existing border restrictions were set to expire on Oct. 21, but will now be extended until the new rules go into effect.

Source: CBC