Only days after the federal government announced it was dropping testing requirements at Canada’s borders for fully vaccinated travellers, we have the clearest signs yet that travel vaccine mandates themselves may be on their way out, too.
Current federal government regulations require any member of the travelling public to be fully vaccinated to travel by plane or train.
At a press conference Friday, Canada’s chief public health officer, Dr. Theresea Tam, said officials are looking to change that policy from "an emphasis on requirements to recommendations."
The change in approach comes as the Omicron variant has defied scientists’ expectations when it comes to the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines.
"The game changer has been an Omicron variant, which is a vaccine-escape variant," Tam said.
"What we know is that, with the Omicron variant, having two doses — the protection against infection and further transmission goes really low. You really need a third dose to provide augmentation against transmission. All that should be taken into account as the federal government looks at the policies going forward."
Dr. Tam emphasized that having two doses of the vaccine does help prevent serious outcomes from even Omicron.
But eligibility for a third or subsequent dose varies among age groups and provinces, and furthermore, people who have recovered have been told to wait up to three months before getting a booster.
Dr. Tam acknowledged that makes any possibility of mandating boosters “very complicated.”
And she added, "All of this has to be borne in mind when the government makes its policy decisions. You also have to make it relatively simple for travellers."
Dr. Tam said that government officials are, “looking at a phased approach of removing some of these policies. I know these policies are being reviewed and re-examined as we speak."
Canada's deputy chief public health officer, Dr. Howard Njoo, said health policies are in a “transition phase” away from mandates and towards personal responsibility.
"All jurisdictions are trying to find a useful balance between what they make mandatory and impose on their citizens and what they can count on individuals to do themselves," he said.
Even if the vaccine mandate is removed for pax to board Canadian aircraft or trains, that would not itself affect vaccine mandates at the Canadian border.
However, Dr. Tam told media at the conference that Ottawa is “actively reviewing all” federal vaccine mandates with an eye to ending requirements that force people to make certain health choices.
Canada’s public health officials, she said, are at “a very important juncture,” and said policies were expected to change “soon.”
