Questions raised about future of travel after AstraZeneca vaccine not accepted at U.S. concert
Canada’s vaccination rate for first doses ranks among the top of the world’s largest countries, and second doses are now accelerating as well.
“When you look at the pace of vaccination, we're up there with the fastest in the world, when it comes to administering vaccine,” said Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease doctor based in Toronto.
But for those folks who got an AstraZeneca shot, there is new concern whether that will be enough to get them into events in the United States when the border reopens to travellers.
Rocker Bruce Springsteen is reopening his live production on Broadway later this month, and to attend you need to be fully vaccinated with vaccines approved by the FDA for use in the United States — including Pfizer, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson — not Astrazeneca, which has yet to receive the green light for use in the U.S.
It might seem like a small thing, but as the world emerges from the pandemic and borders start reopening, the rock show could be the sign of things to come, according to Dr. Kelley Lee, a professor at Simon Fraser University and Canada Research Chair in Global Health Governance at SFU.
“Even if we relax and we can go in the States, you can’t assume that you're going to have the same access to things as say an American, so you really have to do your planning if you’re going to do a trip,” cautions Lee, noting there has been a patchwork of vaccination programs around the globe.
She said the same issue could apply here too for Canadians returning from abroad who are fully vaccinated but not with vaccines approved for use here by Health Canada.
“We’ve had quite an uncoordinated way of using travel measures, and now easing them, we're having the same problem,” said Lee Wednesday. “Even coming back to Canada, if they haven’t had vaccines that have been recognized in Canada, they're going to be not able to circumvent the hotel quarantine system.”
The good news, says Lee, is that the predicaments posed by the different vaccines will likely get sorted in time.
“I think everybody is on the same page, we just need to do it safely, and we want people to get together again,” she said. “It’s in everybody’s interest, it’s just going to take time.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'It could be catastrophic': Woman says natural supplement contained hidden painkiller drug
A Manitoba woman thought she found a miracle natural supplement, but said a hidden ingredient wreaked havoc on her health.
After hearing thousands of last words, this hospital chaplain has advice for the living
Hospital chaplain J.S. Park opens up about death, grief and hearing thousands of last words, and shares his advice for the living.
WHO likely to issue wider alert on contaminated cough syrup
The World Health Organization is likely to issue a wider warning about contaminated Johnson and Johnson-made children's cough syrup found in Nigeria last week, it said in an email.
WATCH Video shows dramatic police takedown of carjacking suspects chased through parking lot north of Toronto
Police have released video footage of a dramatic takedown of a group of teens wanted in connection with an attempted carjacking in Markham earlier this month.
Canada, G7 urge 'all parties' to de-escalate in growing Mideast conflict
Canada called for 'all parties' to de-escalate rising tensions in the Mideast following an apparent Israeli drone attack against Iran overnight.
'It was all my savings': Ontario woman loses $15K to fake Walmart job scam
A woman who recently moved to Canada from India was searching for a job when she got caught in an online job scam and lost $15,000.
Families to receive Canada Child Benefit payment on Friday
More money will land in the pockets of some Canadian families on Friday for the latest Canada Child Benefit installment.
After COVID, WHO defines disease spread 'through air'
The World Health Organization and around 500 experts have agreed for the first time on what it means for a disease to spread through the air, in a bid to avoid the confusion early in the COVID-19 pandemic that some scientists have said cost lives.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.