Sarnia, Ont. mayor welcomes planned U.S. land border reopening

The mayor of an Ontario border city says he welcomes the news that fully vaccinated Canadians will be able to drive into the United States starting next month.

But Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley says he believes Canadians will be cautious about driving south for day trips and vacations given that many parts of the U.S. have looser public health measures and higher COVID-19 case counts.

Bradley says he wants to see more details on the plan to ease border restrictions to make sure “we protect people when they go there and come back.”

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A New York congressman announced Tuesday that the United States plans to reopen its land border to Canadians in November, provided they can show they have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Few details have been released so far, but the plan is designed to dovetail with the Biden administration’s existing plan to allow international travellers from further afield to resume travel to the U.S. on the same timeline, provided they’ve been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Fully vaccinated U.S. citizens and permanent residents have been allowed back into Canada since August, provided they have waited at least 14 days since getting a full course of a Health Canada-approved vaccine and can show proof of a recent negative COVID-19 test.

Beginning in early November, the U.S. plans to allow fully vaccinated visitors from a host of countries, including China, India, Ireland, Iran, South Africa, Brazil and the 26 European countries without border controls, known as the Schengen group.