Toronto, Sept. 21 (BUS): Canada will likely eliminate vaccine requirements for people entering Canada by the end of September, an official familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Canada, like the United States, requires that foreign nationals be vaccinated upon entering the country. It is not immediately known whether the United States will take a similar step by September 30, according to the Associated Press.
Unvaccinated travelers who are allowed to enter Canada are currently subject to mandatory arrival tests and a 14-day quarantine.
The official said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau needs to give final approval to this, but the government will likely drop the requirement as well as end random COVID-19 testing at airports. There will also be no need to fill in the information in the unpopular ArriveCan app.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
Unprotected professional athletes such as Major League baseball players will be allowed to play in Toronto in the playoffs if the Blue Jays do post-season work. They are not currently allowed to cross the border into Canada.
When neo-populist Tory leader Pierre Poilifri was announced as the party’s leader in Ottawa this month, the loudest cheer he got from his supporters was when he said he was getting rid of the ArriveCan app.
Dr. Andrew Morris, an infectious disease specialist at University Health Network and Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, as well as a professor at the University of Toronto School of Medicine, said removing the vaccine requirement should have been done a long time ago.
“There is no point in ensuring that people are vaccinated. It does not prevent cases or variants,” he said.