Boomhauer

Was fully vaccinated back in late Feb or early March. Got the card to prove it. Pfizer vaccine.

So can I drive into Canada and not be required to quarantine ? I want to drive into Canada to pick up some stuff and return to the US the same day.

Boomhauer

Looks like Canada still won't allow non essential travel from the US, even if one is vaccinated.
https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/tr...-none-optional

Former Lancastrian

The same goes for a fully vaccinated Canadian wishing to go to the US.

Talks are ongoing about reopening. While Canada has the highest percentage of 1st dose vaccination unfortunately it is behind on 2nd dose vaccinations.

Boomhauer

I don't understand why they won't let in vaccinated Americans and not require they quarantine. The science says vaccinated have a negligible chance of contracting the virus.

BristolUK

Can you provide a link to something that says negligible rather than, say, a reduced risk, which is not the same thing at all.

Have you seen the daily infection rates in the UK that are 5 times what they were a month ago, despite the success of the vaccine rollout?

Fortunately the death rates haven't increased in line with that but the infections are happening.

robin1234

I think both countries just find it simpler to keep the strict rules in place without adjusting them. I know several people in town here who haven’t seen their family and friends for over a year now. Not to mention shopping at Canadian Tire ..

SpoogleDrummer

Because the card can easily be faked so there's no easy way for them to check you really have been vaccinated.

scrubbedexpat091

At least the US left open the air travel loophole for Canadian's.

Boomhauer

"negligible" was my take. I suppose I shouldn't have said it. My take is predicated from listening to radio and reading articles like the below.
https://www.medpagetoday.com/podcasts/trackthevax/92526

Former Lancastrian

True but seeing as they are only flying into 4 Canadian airports it can be a rather expensive loophole if living in the Maritimes. What used to be a 1 hour flight from say Winnipeg is now going to take at least 4 hours.

BristolUK

Thanks for the link.
I think this part is key
Also, pre-vax days people with symptoms and those potentially exposed (traced etc) would get tested.
Given that the vax reduces the severity if you do get it, it follows that symptoms will also be reduced. So even fewer people than previously will be feeling symptoms so fewer are likely to get tested. Yet the UK daily new case figures are five times what they were a month ago. In a country doing very well with the vaccines.

Not bad cases obviously but it's still spreading - perhaps because it's Delta. And while it's still spreading and people are still being infected, there's the possibility of other strains that might be worse. Also, long covid could still be something to come. People have been getting this even though they may not have been too badly affected at the time they got covid. Do we know that long covid problems only happen if you had a bad case of covid? What if the vax stops you feeling 'that bad' but you still get the issues that result in long covid?

I'm not trying to be glass half empty I just think that we should at least wait until plenty are fully vaccinated before taking a chance on things that, quite honestly, are either not 'essential' or can be neutralised with a little inconvenience.

robin1234

Reading your post, and the information in Boomhauer’s post to which you are responding, makes me wonder why CDC in the US encouraged individuals to stop wearing masks (and encouraged states and businesses to drop all mask mandates.) If people who’ve been vaccinated are getting mild cases of COVID (even a low percentage of people) then surely everyone should still be wearing masks when in indoor public areas such as stores and workplaces. Otherwise this disease will never reduce in occurrence, even if it’s not technically a pandemic. Some people will die, others will get long COVID.

Rete

Or a Canadian citizen, i.e. my step-daughter, who cannot return to Canada without facing a 14 day quarantine upon entry.

BristolUK

My guess would be that generally speaking, the US made a bit of a mess right from the start with so many different states and other authorities within those states, coupled with bigger/noisier groups of anti-maskers and all the other twit non-compliance, that if they couldn't get people to act properly at Covid peak, they've got no chance when there are a good vaccines.

I'm not sure 'encouraged' to stop wearing masks is right, mind you...more a case of they don't have to.
My impression anyway.

civilservant

I too think that encouraged is the wrong word. I think 'stopping suggesting going mask less be prohibited' are better ones.

Any way, I think they largely did it because the vaccinated population wanted to see some 'reward' for being vaccinated, it really had little do with the science. Especially when you consider that the same demographic that were resisting mask mandates are the same demographic that aren't going to get vaccinated.