Thought of the Day - July 23 2021 - Nuttin' Borin' 'bout Borders

So here we are. Canada has announced that Americans are allowed to travel to Canada for pleasure starting August 9th. However, the US has also announced that its border with Canada and Mexico will remain closed until August 21st. Saying:

"To decrease the spread of COVID-19, including the Delta variant, the United States is extending restrictions on non-essential travel at our land and ferry crossings with Canada and Mexico through August 21, while ensuring the continued flow of essential trade and travel."

Of course, given the US has a higher new official per capita case rate than either Mexico or Canada, this is unlikely to be the reason. A more likely reason suggested for this move is that the US is loath to open the Canadian border ahead of the Mexican border, where US policy is still a mess. Another probable driver is continued debate south of the border concerning the vaccination status required for travel.

As you know Canadians have always been able to fly to the US, but this does mean we are still not able to drive to the US for at least another month - so much for the US being the ones pushing for the border to reopen.

As a Washington State representative was quoted as saying "Right now, Canadians can fly from Vancouver to Seattle but residents in the border town of White Rock cannot drive the short distance south across the border to Blaine," I guess it will be a while yet before Canadians can pickup all the stuff from their overflowing US PO boxes in Blaine.

Speaking of YVR, while I do not have this from official sources, I am seeing pictures that indicate there is now new signage for separate lines for those that are "Fully-Vaccinated" and for the unclean.

As we have talked about before "Fully-Vaccinated" is a relative term; each jurisdiction has a different list of acceptable vaccines ( Thought of the Day - June 18 2021 - No Boss On AstraZeneca ), and double-dose might only be acceptable for few more months ( Thought of the Day - July 5 2021 - Vaccine Wars the Next Campaign ).

Of course, if you are under 12 you cannot have been fully vaccinated, but I assume we will not be splitting up families at the border.

While these lines might mean there would be separate entry procedures depending on your vaccination status, considering that you were supposed to provide all the information in advance via the ArriveCan app, processing should be a moot point.

That said, as you are not supposed to come to Canada if you have not been "Fully Vaccinated" I guess the "Unvaccinated" line just leads back to the departures level.

And how is the updated ArriveCan app ( Thought of the Day - June 22 2021 - First Step ) doing, you might be thinking? Well, have a look at some of the questions. They seem to say if you tested positive you are supposed to say "no" even though you are required to do the follow-up test and sent the sample to the lab as instructed.

Oh, and just in case you missed it, cruise ships will again be able to ply Canadian waters starting in November - kind of ironic as there are no cruises planned until April anyway.

By land, sea or by air, all-in-all, and not unexpectedly, it does look like it is going to be a wild time at the border for the foreseeable future.

Cheers

Cliff