NEWS
U.S. land border will reopen to fully vaccinated Canadians on Nov. 8, mixed doses OK TORONTO — The U.S. land border will reopen to fully vaccinated Canadian travellers on Nov. 8. Also on Nov. 8 the U.S. will reopen to fully vaccinated foreign nationals arriving by air. White House Assistant Press Secretary Kevin Munoz announced the news in a tweet, saying: “The U.S.’ new travel policy that requires vaccination for foreign national travellers to the United States will begin on Nov. 8. This announcement and date applies to both international air travel and land travel.” Last week the U.S. announced that it was reopening its land border to Canadian travellers in early November, with no specified date. The U.S. had indicated back in September that it would reopen to fully vaccinated foreign nationals arriving by air.
Also last week, the CDC announced that when the U.S. reopens its land borders to non-essential travel on Nov. 8, people who received doses of two different COVID-19 vaccines will qualify as fully vaccinated. People with “any combination” of two doses of a vaccine approved by either the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or the World Health Organization “are considered fully vaccinated,” the agency said in a statement. The news also confirms what the White House acknowledged earlier that day would be a likely development: that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, approved by the WHO but not the FDA, would be deemed acceptable.
Many families with young kids are also be waiting to hear whether unvaccinated children under the age of 12 can cross the land border without restrictions. So far indications from the Sept. 20 announcement about fully vaccinated foreign nationals suggest that exemptions will be made for young kids who don’t yet have access to vaccinations. The Canadian government’s advisory against all non-essential travel is still in place after more than a year and a half. In recent weeks ACTA, ACITA and other travel industry execs, as well as the consumer media, have have stepped up calls for a more country-specific risk-based travel advisory.
October 21, 2021 | TRAVELWEEK | 23
