In a tweet Friday, White House assistant press secretary Kevin Munoz revealed the long-awaited date for the reopening of the land border into the United States.
Canada reopened its land, maritime and air borders to fully vaccinated Americans in AUG.
According to Global News - and reiterated by Reuters who quoted an unnamed official source - 08NOV is the date when fully vaccinated Canadians will be able to travel by land across the border.
The US’ new travel policy that requires vaccination for foreign national travelers to the United States will begin on Nov 8. This announcement and date applies to both international air travel and land travel. This policy is guided by public health, stringent, and consistent. https://t.co/uaDiVrjtqi
— Kevin Munoz (@KMunoz46) October 15, 2021
U.S. government officials had been indicating the reopening would take place in early NOV.
Under the new, reopening regulations, non-essential travellers will be required to prove their vaccination status if selected for random screening. Only fully vaccinated arrivals will be allowed entry.
The report clarifies that no testing will be required for land or maritime arrivals providing travellers are fully vaccinated. Air travellers arriving in the U.S. are required to show proof of a negative antigen test to board their flights.
Some details remain to be determined, especially what constitutes full vaccination. Recent reports indicate that AstraZeneca vaccines - and indeed, all WHO-approved COVID-19 vaccines - will be accepted by U.S. border officials.
But whether Canadians with mixed vaccines of any type will be permitted entry has not yet been confirmed.
American officials say that’s still a topic for discussion, and the Canadian government has said in recent days it’s working with the U.S. to ensure Canadians with non-identical vaccines are accepted as fully vaccinated.