OTTAWA – Canada said on Monday it would begin cautiously lifting border restrictions for fully vaccinated citizens on July 5 however made clear it would be months before the U.S. and other foreign travelers could enter the nation.
From 11:59 p.m. EDT on July 5 (0359 GMT on July 6), those who have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine will now not need to spend time in quarantine. The move applies to Canadians and permanent residents.
“That is the first part of our precautionary approach … at this time we’re not opening up our borders any further,” mentioned Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc. Ottawa first announced the plan on June 9.
LeBlanc informed reporters that Ottawa was talking to its domestic and international partners “with the goal of allowing fully vaccinated travelers to enter Canada for non-essential reasons within the months to come.”
Canada and the US first banned non-essential travel in March 2020 as a part of the effort to fight COVID-19. The restrictions, which exclude trade-in items, are now due to expire on July 21, 2021.
The measures have hit the travel and airline industries, which along with U.S. politicians are insisting Ottawa do much more to open the border.
However Canadian officials mentioned further easing would depend on vaccination rates, the number of new COVID-19 cases, and hospitalizations as well as the spread of variants of concern.
“We aren’t insensitive to the desire of many sectors of the economy and Canadians to see more steps however that will happen at the appropriate moment,” LeBlanc mentioned.
Public Safety Minister Invoice Blair informed the Canadian Broadcasting Corp that the restrictions could not be lifted till 75% of Canadians had been absolutely vaccinated.
Only 14.7% of eligible Canadians have had both jabs of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine as of June 18, according to official data.
