Canada Accepts New Vaccines For Travel
Recently, Canada announced that starting November 30, 2021, several new border measures will take effect and one of these is the expansion of the COVID-19 vaccine list that all travelers can receive for them to be considered as fully vaccinated individuals.
According to the government media release, Sinovac, Sinopharm, and COVAXIN will now be added to the list of accepted vaccines along with the existing list of approved manufacturers; specifically, Johnson and Johnson, Pfizer, Moderna, and Astra Zeneca.
Moving forward on January 15, 2022, Canada will only exempt certain travelers to be allowed to enter the country given that they are fully vaccinated with either one of the approved vaccines. Below is the list:
- Work Permit holders except for those who are working in agriculture and food processing
- Canadian family members, individuals who are registered in the Indian Act, and permanent residents
- International students whose ages are 18 and older
- Essential service providers
Once the new measures take effect, individuals who are not yet vaccinated or only partially vaccinated will only be permitted to travel to Canada if they meet an exemption. The below mentioned who are exempt from needing to be fully vaccinated will still subject to quarantine, COVID-19 testing, and other requirements upon entering Canada.
Below is the list of some of the exempted groups
- New permanent residents
- Resettling refugees
- Children under the age of 18
- Individuals coming on compassionate grounds
In addition to this, starting November 30, 2021, all fully vaccinated Canadian citizens as well as permanent residents will now be able to return to Canada without the need to undergo the COVID-19 test given that their trip was for less than 72 hours. However, those Canadian travelers who leave the country for 3 or more days must provide a negative PCR pre-arrival test upon their return.
