Canada-US land border is reopening, but Canadians with mixed vaccines are facing uncertainty
Ottawa/IBNS: The welcome news of reopening of Canada-US border in early November brings with it an uncertainty to several Canadians who have had mixed vaccines of Covid-19.
This is because mixed COVID-19 vaccines, such as one dose of AstraZeneca and one dose of Pfizer or Moderna are not currently recognized by the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
CDC hasn't yet confirmed if travelers with two different doses will be blocked from entry after vaccine requirement kicks in.
"CDC will release additional guidance and information as the travel requirements are finalized later this month," said spokesperson Jade Fulce in an email on Wednesday.
CDC confirmed last week that the country will accept visitors inoculated with COVID-19 vaccines authorized by US regulators or the World Health Organization (WHO) which include AstraZeneca and its Indian-made counterpart, Covishield.
Although a similar rule is expected at land crossings, the US is still waiting for CDC's guidance about travelers with mixed doses.
While currently mixed vaccines are not recognized by CDC, it says on its website that in "exceptional situations,"such as when the vaccine used for the first dose was no longer available, mixed doses of the two mRNA vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna, are acceptable.
(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.