The Biden administration is developing a plan to open U.S. borders - and it will require all arrivals to be fully vaccinated.
Reuters reported late Wednesday that a plan is in the works to prepare for a reopening of travel into the U.S.
Unnamed administration officials reportedly said the vaccination requirement would be phased in, and that “interagency groups are developing a policy and planning process.”
However, other details are scant. Two big questions for Canada will be:
Defining ‘Fully Vaccinated’
As Open Jaw has reported, Canadians with ‘mixed vaccines’ are running afoul of some destinations and even cruise lines. One cruise line told Open Jaw that it was following CDC guidelines that do not recognize AstraZeneca shots. So any traveller with a combination of AstraZeneca and an mRNA vaccine like Pfizer or Moderna is considered not fully vaccinated. A traveller would have to get a third, mRNA shot to be considered fully vaccinated.
If those same guidelines are to be applied by the U.S. government for border entry, a lot of Canadians may have to further delay travel into the States.
The government of Canada has said it's collaborating with governments of other countries to ensure its vaccine program is recognized so that Canadians can travel.
Timing
No timeline for the reopening of the U.S. border has yet been given. In terms of its border with Canada, the White House extended last month’s closure until at least 21AUG, citing the spread of the Delta variant. But there was no indication that the border would be reopened after the current closure order expires, or whether it would be extended again.
Canada unilaterally re-opened its borders to fully-vaccinated Americans for non-essential travel as of 09AUG. Fully-vaccinated Americans who arrive will be exempt from quarantine and Day 8 testing.
