Book Sabres tickets and a COVID-19 test in one? Pharmacies get inventive as U.S. border reopens
A COVID-19 test could be booked along with the purchase of Buffalo Bills or Sabres tickets as American pharmacies seek to provide services to an expected surge of Canadians travelling across the border when it reopens to non-essential travel.
Done right, the test result could be e-mailed to a traveller before the game is even over, said Joe Bellavia, the supervising pharmacist at Vital Pharmacy in Buffalo told CTV News Toronto.
“A Sabres game is a perfect example. They could come and be tested before the game, enjoy dinner and we can provide them the results before it’s time to go home,” he said.
Vital Pharmacy is just one example of inventive COVID-19 test ideas being offered on both sides of the border, seeking to find ways to make it convenient — if not necessarily cheap — to cross the border.
Interest in cross-border trips are expected to surge on Nov. 8, when the United States border reopens to non-essential travel for vaccinated individuals. That means going across the border for a game, a shop or for any legal reason will be possible as long as you are fully vaccinated.
But, so far, neither government has changed the testing requirements. To get into the United States, travellers must present a negative antigen test.
And to return to Canada, Canadian citizens must present a negative PCR test that was sampled in the last 72 hours.
On the Canadian side, Go Test Rapid has set up a drive-through testing tent on Jane Street just north of Highway 401 in Toronto. They’re banking that travellers going on short trips will want to get a test before they cross the border because the 72-hour window gives people a lot of flexibility.
“Some people are getting those PCR tests on the way out, and that means they’re already set up for the way back,” Go Test Rapid’s marketing manager, Eden Hazan, told CTV News Toronto.
And to drive the point home, the company is offering a special on getting an antigen test — and a PCR test — at the same time.
“It makes it really easy to travel for a short trip,” head nurse, Rohit Sharma, said.
The Public Health Agency of Canada is still advising against non-essential international travel. Canada opened its borders to vaccinated Americans on August 9. Basic travel documents remain requirements to cross the border.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Video shows suspect setting Toronto-area barbershop on fire
Video of a suspect lighting a Richmond Hill barbershop on fire earlier this week has been released by police.
The kids from 'Mrs. Doubtfire' are all SUPER grown up now, and we're not OK
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
Canadian doctor concerned new weight-loss drug Wegovy may be used inappropriately
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
Police officer hit by driver of fleeing vehicle in Toronto
York Regional Police say they are continuing to search for a suspect in an auto theft investigation who was captured on video running over a police officer in Toronto last month.
TD worst-case scenario more likely after drug money laundering allegations: analyst
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
Premier Legault reiterates that McGill pro-Palestinian camp must be dismantled
Quebec Premier François Legault reiterated that the pro-Palestinian encampment at McGill University must be dismantled while police remain 'on the lookout for new developments.'
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
'I have the will to live': N.B. woman needs double lung transplant
A New Brunswick woman suffering from sarcoidosis, a disease that limits your lung capacity, is in need of a double lung transplant.
Hulk Hogan, hurricanes and a blockbuster recording: A week in review of the Trump hush money trial
Crucial witnesses took the stand in the second week of testimony in Donald Trump's hush money trial, including a California lawyer who negotiated deals at the center of the case and a longtime adviser to the former president.