American tourists yearning to visit Canada received welcome news on Monday when the federal government announced it will soon reopen its doors to fully vaccinated U.S. citizens.
However, some Canadians yearning to cross the U.S. land border felt short-changed, as no reciprocal agreement was announced.
“I’m waiting pretty damn patiently. We are all waiting pretty patiently to have this border open,” said Leslie Beitel of Lethbridge, Alta. She owns a second home about 290 kilometres away in Columbia Falls, Mont., but can’t drive there because the U.S. land border is closed.
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“It would just be really nice to be able to have free access to our place,” she said.
Here are the current rules for entering the U.S., including what’s subject to change.
U.S. travel rules
In March 2020, Canada and the United States agreed to close their shared land border to non-essential travel to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
The U.S. decided to still let Canadian travellers enter by air, while Canada barred American tourists from entering by any mode of transport.
To decrease the spread of COVID-19, including the Delta variant, the United States is extending restrictions on non-essential travel at our land and ferry crossings with Canada and Mexico through August 21, while ensuring the continued flow of essential trade and travel.
It was widely assumed that — when the time was right — the two countries would announce a joint reopening of the land border.
But that didn’t happen.
On Monday, the Canadian government announced that, come Aug. 9, fully vaccinated Americans can enter Canada and even skip quarantine. The U.S. government, however, had nothing new to announce, except that it was continuing to review its current travel restrictions.
“Every country gets to set its own rules about how it will keep its citizens safe,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a news conference in Hamilton on Tuesday.
WATCH | Canada to open border to vaccinated Americans starting Aug. 9:
Effective Aug. 9, fully vaccinated Americans can travel to Canada without having to quarantine, rules which may extend to the rest of the world in early September. 2:32
A day later, the U.S. declared that, barring an amendment, its side of the land border will remain closed to non-essential travel until at least Aug. 21 due to risks posed by the pandemic.
They must show proof of a negative molecular or antigen COVID-19 test taken no more than three days before their flight.
When returning to Canada, travellers must show proof of a negative molecular test taken in the U.S. However, the Canadian government said that come Aug. 9, travellers can take that test when leaving Canada, and use it to both enter the U.S. and return home — as long as they’re in the U.S. for less than 72 hours.
Birgit Heinbach, right, used to be able to walk to her husband Ian Geddes’s house in Blaine, Wash., in 45 minutes. With the land border closed, the trip now involves two planes and most of a day. ‘It’s ridiculous,’ she said. (Len Saunders)
Birgit Heinbach lives in Surrey, B.C., just seven kilometres from her American husband’s home across the border in Blaine, Wash.
She used to be able to walk to her husband’s house in 45 minutes, but because Heinback can’t travel by land, visiting her husband has become a lengthy, expensive journey.
“I have to fly from Vancouver to Seattle, hang around there, take the next plane to Bellingham. So it takes me three quarters of a day,” she said. “It’s ridiculous.”
Why won’t the U.S. reopen its land border now?
Last year, the U.S.made noises about reopening the Canada-U.S. land border while Canada publicly opposed the idea.
So why was the U.S. silent on Monday when Canada announced its reopening plans?
Foreign policy expert Edward Alden suggested the U.S. is waiting until it’s ready to reopen its shared land border withMexico, which is also closed to non-essential travel.
“It would be enormously awkward for this administration … to lift the restrictions on Canada without simultaneously lifting the land border restrictions on Mexico,” said Alden, a professor of U.S.-Canada economic relations at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash.
WATCH | Mexico’s ambassador to Canada on the land border closures:
Following news that the U.S. will extend its land border closure with Mexico and Canada until Aug. 21, Mexico’s Ambassador to Canada Juan José Gomez-Camacho tells Power & Politics he thinks it’s logical for the United States to treat its northern and southern borders the same. 7:28
Alden suggested the U.S. isn’t rushing to reopen the border with Mexico because of the anticipated consequences: a flood of asylum seekers it can’t immediately turn back along with backlash from Republicans opposed to Biden’s immigration policies.
“It’s mostly the political concern over the Republicans,” he said. “It’s also, I would think, just a [border] resources concern.”
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security tweeted that it is “in constant contact with Canadian and Mexican counterparts to identify the conditions under which restrictions may be eased safely and sustainably.”
Vaccine mixing concerns
It’s unclear at this point whether the U.S. will mandate that Canadian tourists be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 when they’re allowed to cross by land. It’s not currently a requirement for U.S.-bound air travellers.
If the U.S. does impose a vaccination requirement, it could cause problems for themore than 2.6 million Canadians who have mixed doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
The U.S. currently does not recognize COVID-19 vaccine mixing.
“The safety and effectiveness of receiving two different COVID-19 vaccines has not been studied,” Jasmine Reed, a spokesperson for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in an email.
However, the CDC says mixed doses of the two mRNA vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna, will be accepted in “exceptional situations,” such as when the vaccine used for the first dose was no longer available. That rule excludes the many Canadians who got an AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine and an mRNA shot.
Cruise line questions
Several cruise lines are following the CDC’s directive for their cruises departing from the U.S. where the passenger must be fully vaccinated. Norwegian Cruise Line is not recognizing people with mixed doses as being fully vaccinated.Princess Cruises, Carnival and Holland America aren’t recognizing those who mixed doses of AstraZeneca and an mRNA vaccine.
“It makes me feel like I’m somehow a second class citizen,” said epidemiologist Nazeem Muhajarine, who got one dose of AstraZeneca and a second dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
Epidemiologist Nazeem Muhajarine said studies so far suggest that mixing vaccine doses is safe and effective, so the U.S. will likely at some point change its policy, which does not currently recognize them. (Lauren Winter Photography)
Muhajarine, a professor of community health and epidemiology at the University of Saskatchewan, said studies so far suggest that mixing vaccine doses is safe and effective, so the U.S. will likely change its policy at some point.
“It has to change, because this is such a narrow kind of take on what is allowable,” he said.
“There are many countries mixing and matching different types of vaccines.”
Have questions about this story? We’re answering as many as we can in the comments.
Montreal Alouettes wide receiver Tyson Philpot has announced he will be out for the rest of the CFL season.
The Delta, B.C., native posted the news on his Instagram page Thursday.
“To Be Continued. Shoutout my team, the fans of the CFL and the whole city of Montreal! I can’t wait to be back healthy and write this next chapter in 2025,” the statement read.
Philpot, 24, injured his foot in a 33-23 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Aug. 10 and was placed on the six-game injured list the next week.
The six-foot-one, 195-pound receiver had 58 receptions, 779 yards and five touchdowns in nine games for the league-leading Alouettes in his third season.
Philpot scored the game-winning touchdown in Montreal’s Grey Cup win last season to punctuate a six-reception, 63-yard performance.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa sustained a concussion for the third time in his NFL career, leaving his team’s game Thursday night against Buffalo after running into defensive back Damar Hamlin and hitting the back of his head against the turf.
Tagovailoa remained down for about two minutes before getting to his feet and walking to the sideline after the play in the third quarter. He made his way to the tunnel not long afterward, looking into the stands before smiling and departing toward the locker room.
The Dolphins needed almost no time before announcing it was a concussion. The team said he had two during the 2022 season, and Tagovailoa was diagnosed with another concussion when he was a college player at Alabama.
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Tagovailoa would get “proper procedural evaluation” and “appropriate care” on Friday.
“The furthest thing from my mind is, ‘What is the timeline?’ We just need to evaluate and just worry about my teammate, like the rest of the guys are,” McDaniel said. “We’ll get more information tomorrow and take it day by day from here.”
Some players saw Tagovailoa in the locker room after the game and said they were encouraged. Tagovailoa spoke with some players and then went home after the game, McDaniel said.
“I have a lot of love for Tua, built a great relationship with him,” said quarterback Skylar Thompson, who replaced Tagovailoa after the injury. “You care about the person more than the player and everybody in the organization would say the same thing. Just really praying for Tua and hopefully everything will come out all right.”
Tagovailoa signed a four-year, $212 million extension before this season — a deal that makes him one of the highest-paid players in the NFL — and was the NFL’s leading passer in Week 1 this season. Tagovailoa left with the Dolphins trailing 31-10, and that was the final score.
“If you know Tua outside of football, you can’t help but feel for him,” Bills quarterback Josh Allen said on Amazon following the game. “He’s a great football player but he’s an even greater human being. He’s one of the best humans on the planet. I’ve got a lot of love for him and I’m just praying for him and his family, hoping everything’s OK. But it’s tough, man. This game of football that we play, it’s got its highs and it’s got its lows — and this is one of the lows.”
Tagovailoa’s college years and first three NFL seasons were marred by injury, though he positioned himself for a big pay bump with an injury-free and productive 2023 as he led the Dolphins into the playoffs. He threw for 29 touchdowns and a league-best 4,624 yards last year.
When, or if, he can come back this season is anyone’s guess. Tagovailoa said in April 2023 that the concussions he had in the 2022 season left him contemplating his playing future. “I think I considered it for a time,” he said then, when asked if he considered stepping away from the game to protect himself.
McDaniel said it’s not his place to say if Tagovailoa should return to football. “He’ll be evaluated and we’ll have conversations and progress as appropriate,” McDaniel said.
Tagovailoa was hurt Thursday on a fourth-down keeper with about 4:30 left in the third. He went straight ahead into Hamlin and did not slide, leading with his right shoulder instead.
Hamlin was the player who suffered a cardiac arrest after making a tackle during a Monday night game in January 2023 at Cincinnati, causing the NFL to suspend a pivotal game that quickly lost significance in the aftermath of a scary scene that unfolded in front of a national television audience.
Tagovailoa wound up on his back, both his hands in the air and Bills players immediately pointed at him as if to suggest there was an injury. Dolphins center Aaron Brewer quickly did the same, waving to the sideline.
Tagovailoa appeared to be making a fist with his right hand as he lay on the ground. It was movement consistent with something that is referred to as the “fencing response,” which can be common after a traumatic brain injury.
Tagovailoa eventually got to his feet. McDaniel grabbed the side of his quarterback’s head and gave him a kiss on the cheek as Tagovailoa departed. Thompson came into the game to take Tagovailoa’s spot.
“I love Tua on and off the football field,” Bills edge Von Miller said. “I’m a huge fan of him. I can empathize and sympathize with him because I’ve been there. I wish him the best.”
Tagovailoa’s history with concussions — and how he has since worked to avoid them — is a huge part of the story of his career, and now comes to the forefront once again.
He had at least two concussions during the 2022 season. He was hurt in a Week 3 game against Buffalo and cleared concussion protocol, though he appeared disoriented on that play but returned to the game.
The NFL later changed its concussion protocol to mandate that if a player shows possible concussion symptoms — including a lack of balance or stability — he must sit out the rest of the game.
Less than a week later, in a Thursday night game at Cincinnati, Tagovailoa was concussed on a scary hit that briefly knocked him unconscious and led to him being taken off the field on a stretcher.
His second known concussion of that season came in a December game against Green Bay, and he didn’t play for the rest of the 2022 season. After that, Tagovailoa began studying ways where he may be able to fall more safely and protect himself against further injury — including studying jiu-jitsu.
“I’m not worried about anything that’s out of my hands,” McDaniel said. “I’m just worried about the human being.”
NEW YORK (AP) — When her husband turns on the television to hear news about the upcoming presidential election, that’s often a signal for Lori Johnson Malveaux to leave the room.
It can get to be too much. Often, she’ll go to a TV in another room to watch a movie on the Hallmark Channel or BET. She craves something comforting and entertaining. And in that, she has company.
While about half of Americans say they are following political news “extremely” or “very” closely, about 6 in 10 say they need to limit how much information they consume about the government and politics to avoid feeling overloaded or fatigued, according to a new survey from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and USAFacts.
Make no mistake: Malveaux plans to vote. She always does. “I just get to the point where I don’t want to hear the rhetoric,” she said.
The 54-year-old Democrat said she’s most bothered when she hears people on the news telling her that something she saw with her own eyes — like the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol — didn’t really happen.
“I feel like I’m being gaslit. That’s the way to put it,” she said.
Sometimes it feels like ‘a bombardment’
Caleb Pack, 23, a Republican from Ardmore, Oklahoma, who works in IT, tries to keep informed through the news feeds on his phone, which is stocked with a variety of sources, including CNN, Fox News, The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press.
Yet sometimes, Pack says, it seems like a bombardment.
“It’s good to know what’s going on, but both sides are pulling a little bit extreme,” he said. “It just feels like it’s a conversation piece everywhere, and it’s hard to escape it.”
Media fatigue isn’t a new phenomenon. A Pew Research Center survey conducted in late 2019 found roughly two in three Americans felt worn out by the amount of news there is, about the same as in a poll taken in early 2018. During the 2016 presidential campaign, about 6 in 10 people felt overloaded by campaign news.
But it can be particularly acute with news related to politics. The AP-NORC/USAFacts poll found that half of Americans feel a need to limit their consumption of information related to crime or overseas conflicts, while only about 4 in 10 are limiting news about the economy and jobs.
It’s easy to understand, with television outlets like CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC full of political talk and a wide array of political news online, sometimes complicated by disinformation.
“There’s a glut of information,” said Richard Coffin, director of research and advocacy for USAFacts, “and people are having a hard time figuring out what is true or not.”
Women are more likely to feel they need to limit media
In the AP-NORC poll, about 6 in 10 men said they follow news about elections and politics at least “very” closely, compared to about half of women. For all types of news, not just politics, women are more likely than men to report the need to limit their media consumption, the survey found.
White adults are also more likely than Black or Hispanic adults to say they need to limit media consumption on politics, the poll found.
Kaleb Aravzo, 19, a Democrat, gets a baseline of news by listening to National Public Radio in the morning at home in Logan, Utah. Too much politics, particularly when he’s on social media sites like TikTok and Instagram, can trigger anxiety and depression.
“If it pops up on my page when I’m on social media,” he said, “I’ll just scroll past it.”
___
Sanders reported from Washington. David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder.
The AP poll of 1,019 adults was conducted July 29-August 8, 2024, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.0 percentage points.
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