U.S. May Allow Vaccinated Canadians: Fauci

U.S. May Allow Vaccinated Canadians: Fauci

July 26, 2021 ctn_admin

U.S. President Joe Biden is actively considering opening the U.S. border to fully vaccinated Canadians, says his chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci.

“I can tell you that the border situation and letting Canadians in who are fully vaccinated is an area of active discussion right now in the U.S. government,” he told CBC News Network’s Power & Politics in an exclusive Canadian interview.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he plans to allow fully vaccinated Americans and permanent U.S. residents to come into Canada beginning August 9. They will not have to quarantine, and COVID-19 tests will be done randomly.

The U.S. has had a surge in COVID cases in several states in the past week or two, while Canada has pretty much tamped it down. Despite that being the case, the Biden administration last week said it was extending the current Canada-US border closure until at least Aug. 21. Canadians can fly to the U.S. but they can’t drive to the States unless it’s for an essential reason.

It’s a baffling situation to many, including, it seems, Dr. Fauci.

“As a public health official, sometimes it’s difficult to figure out why policies haven’t changed,” he told the CBC.

The website Politico says the issue was recently address by the Wilson Center’s Canada Institute, a group based in Washington, D.C.

“There’s been an enormous amount of information sharing and coordination and there continues to be,” Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s ambassador to the U.S., told a webcast hosted by the institute. “But coordination doesn’t mean you’re going to do exactly the same thing and, indeed, since the very beginning we haven’t been doing the same thing.”