Canada Mulls Allowing Fully Immunized Entrants To Bypass Hotel Quarantine Requirement

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th June, 2021) Canada is considering allowing travelers fully vaccinated against the coronavirus disease to bypass the country's controversial hotel quarantine requirement, Health Minister Patty Hajdu said on Wednesday.

"What is currently being considered... is to allow fully vaccinated individuals, currently permitted to enter Canada, to do so without the requirement to stay in government-authorized accommodations," Hajdu told reporters.

However, under the proposed new border measures, fully vaccinated entrants will still have to abide by all the other measures, including pre-departure tests, tests upon arrival and the 14-day quarantine, Hajdu said.

For non- or partially-immunized individuals all of the restrictive measures currently in place, will remain in effect, including the hotel quarantine.

Canada's Federal government is considering the first week of July as the starting point for the new rules, Hajdu said, emphasizing that the border remains closed to non-Canadian citizens or foreign nationals not permanently residing in the country. Additionally, only those who have received a Health Canada approved vaccine - Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Oxford-AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson - will be eligible to skip the hotel quarantine requirement.

Canada's hotel quarantine condition - introduced in February - has been the source of intense criticism, with some women having reported being sexually assaulted, while others have likened the requirement to internment camps. The measure is currently being contested in court.

The requirement also flies in the face of a hand-picked expert panel, which called on the federal government to drop the mandate, in favor of stronger adherence to the quarantine mandate in place.

Although the Canadian government is constitutionally prohibited from barring citizens from leaving the country, the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has used the enhanced border security measures to discourage international travel amid the pandemic.

Apart from the hotel quarantine requirement, all entrants into Canada must also complete a mandatory 14-day quarantine. As of March 25, 2020, Quarantine Act violators may be subject to a fine of up to $537,000 and/or imprisonment for six months.