Trudeau: The US-Canada border may open to fully vaccinated Americans in August

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Nearly 80 percent of eligible Canadians have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine; And at least 53 percent have been fully vaccinated, according to Deputy Chief Health Officer Howard Ngo.

These vaccination rates are higher than in the United States, where nearly 56 percent have received at least one dose and more than 48 percent have been vaccinated.

The Trudeau government previously suggested that current border restrictions will not be relaxed until at least 75 percent of Canada’s population is fully vaccinated.

Pressure from the US: Trudeau’s cautious approach to land borders has not made him many new friends in the US, including Representative Brian Higgins (DNY) and New York State Assembly member Jonathan Rivera

The couple issued a joint statement earlier this month urging the Canadian government to open the land border, arguing that “the necessity of such drastic measures is now out of date.”

“We respectfully request that Canadian officials use the powers assigned by their offices to permanently end the border closure on July 21 and restore our two great nations to a place of camaraderie,” the statement read.

Midwest lawmakers unanimously approved a resolution at the Midwest legislative convention on Wednesday to require the White House and Canadian governments to strike a deal to ease restrictions to allow fully-immunized travelers across the US-Canada border.

Quick background: The US-Canada border has been closed to all non-essential travel since March 2020. An initial agreement between the two countries at the start of the pandemic has been extended on a rolling monthly basis.

The latest extension is expected to expire on July 21.

Trudeau adopted a cautious approach against pressure to reopen the US-Canada border to non-essential travel. In a series of interviews this week, he cited concerns about the delta variant and case studies of countries that have reimposed restrictions due to the sudden rise in new cases. He stressed the need to introduce any easing of border restrictions in subsequent “interim” steps.

Next step: Readings from Trudeau’s meeting with his provincial and territorial counterparts provided more details on the plan for a possible border reopening next week.

On the mobility of fully vaccinated Canadians, Trudeau said more work needs to be done nationally and internationally.

The prime minister told reporters on Tuesday that his government would work with provinces and territories “to ensure that there is internationally accepted evidence of vaccination that will allow Canadians to travel freely in the coming years.”

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