U.S. COVID-19 vaccination requirements for foreign air travellers and at the Canada-U.S. border will be lifted this month.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced Monday that non-U.S. travellers entering the country will no longer be required to show proof of vaccination, beginning Friday, May 12.
Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley had been pushing for the U.S. government to lift the restrictions for a while now.
"Well I'm pleased that this announcement has been made, that it is going to end the American restrictions," said Bradley. "I think many people here thought that they were Canadian restrictions, they weren't. When we went back to what you want to consider the new normal with COVID rules last year, it made sense for the Americans to go in the same direction. They chose not to."
The end of business day Thursday, May 11, also marks the end of the U.S. COVID-19 public health emergency.
"They understand that there's no point as they reduce all their restrictions as it relates to their own citizens, there should not be a penalty against non-citizens like Canadians who want to cross at the land borders," said Bradley. "The timing is good as people want to travel and get out and do more things as we exit the COVID world. So, it's welcome and in border cities I think you'll see a significant increase in back-and-forth traffic because of this step."
Canada ended its own vaccination requirements for foreign visitors back in October.
