Ontario pushing feds to ensure people who received mixed vaccines can travel internationally
Ontario has asked the federal government to ensure Canadians who received mixed COVID-19 vaccines will be recognized for international travel as border measures lift.
Health Minister Christine Elliott and Solicitor General Sylvia Jones wrote to Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc and other officials on Sunday about the issue.
"We ask the Government of Canada to work with the WHO to update its guidance to international partners that mixing vaccines should be internationally accepted as a complete vaccine regimen," they wrote.
Ontario and other provinces have offered residents the option of taking one shot each of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines or an mRNA shot after a first of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines. Provinces offered the mixed option this year as country grappled with a shifting incoming vaccine supply schedule and concerns over a rare but serious blood clot linked to the AstraZeneca shot.
The ministers wrote that it's critical for "the integrity and confidence" in Canada's and Ontario's vaccination programs that people who "have done the right thing" by taking doses of two different vaccines are considered immunized abroad.
"As the federal government opens international travel, we believe these Ontarians should also be considered `fully immunized' by other countries both at international borders and in their activities within those jurisdictions," they said.
They argue that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which is not approved by the U.S. Federal Drug Authority, should be seen as valid internationally "on any certificate or passport." That shot listed for emergency use by the WHO.
The letter notes that some European Union countries are using a similar mixed-dose approach to vaccination and said Ontario is looking forward to the outcome of conversations with those countries and with the United States.
The ministers also raised the issue of border measures for international travellers as the country plans to loosen some travel restrictions aimed at limiting COVID-19 spread.
Ottawa announced last week that fully vaccinated U.S. citizens and permanent residents will be allowed into Canada without a 14-day quarantine as of Aug. 9. Eligible travellers in other parts of the world will be permitted to enter without quarantine on Sept. 7.
The rules apply to people who have received a full course of a COVID-19 vaccine approved for use in Canada.
Jones and Elliott wrote to Ottawa on "the importance of ensuring effective measures at the border for those who are not yet fully immunized," and asked for "enforced and effective" quarantine rules for non-vaccinated travellers coming into the country.
They also asked for a consistent approach to international travel across land, air and water borders and at all points of entry.
Ontario reported 119 COVID-19 cases on Monday and three deaths from the virus.
Eighty per cent of adults in Ontario have at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose and 67 per cent are fully vaccinated.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 26, 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Western University researchers unlock potential 'cure' for ALS
New research out of London, Ont.'s Western University is shedding light on a potential cure for ALS, in which the targeting of the interaction between two proteins can halt or fully reverse the disease's progression.
Police release 3D images of young child found in an Ontario river two years ago
Police have released a three-dimensional image of a young child whose remains were discovered in the Grand River in Dunnville, Ont. almost two years ago.
Collapsed Baltimore bridge span comes down with a boom after crews set off chain of explosives
Crews conducted a controlled demolition Monday to break down the largest remaining span of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
What Michael Cohen said on the stand in Trump hush money case
The star prosecution witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial took the stand Monday with testimony that could help shape the outcome of the first criminal case against an American president.
Kamala Harris drops F-bomb during White House live-stream
U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris used a profanity on Monday while offering advice to young Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders about how to break through barriers.
A child killer legally changed his name in B.C. The province is trying to stop that from happening again
The BC NDP have tabled legislation aimed at stopping people who have committed certain heinous acts from changing their names.
Mortgage companies could intensify the next recession, U.S. officials warn
U.S. officials worry the next recession could be intensified by a cascading series of failures in the mortgage industry caused by crashing home prices, frozen financial markets and soaring delinquencies.
Security video caught admitted serial killer disposing of bodies in Winnipeg garbage bins
Security video caught admitted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki on multiple late-night outings, disposing of body parts in nearby garbage bins and dumpsters in the middle of the night.
Behind the barricades: How protesters spend their first days in a new encampment
Students in Montreal describe life in a newly erected encampment in Montreal as a whirlwind of preparations, from facing rain and a potential police crackdown to setting up a space for the exchange of ideas.