Canadian snowbirds will be watching closely this week, some with suitcases at the ready and cars and RVs full of fuel, to see if the United States finally eases the travel restrictions preventing them from driving south for the winter.

Some aren’t waiting for the White House, opting for the perfectly legal option of flying to the US instead. And many plan on getting their booster shot once there.

The booster shot

On Friday, the US Food and Drug Administration turned a few heads when it rejected the idea of a third shot for Americans aged 16 or older. The agency did, however, endorse a plan to make boosters available to people aged 65 or older, or at high risk of severe illness.

Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) is currently weighing the data on the benefits of booster shots, and is expected to issue guidance soon. So, while many Canadians may be eager to get a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine to further protect themselves, consideration should be given to the current lack of evidence in favour of booster shots for the general public and the desperate need for vaccines worldwide.

In fact, the World Health Organization recently called for a moratorium on boosters until at least the end of September, but regardless, rich countries, including parts of Canada, are forging ahead with plans for additional doses now.

Ontario and Alberta have already begun rolling them out to the immunocompromised.

While many Canadians with US travel plans reportedly don’t want to wait for the federal health authorities and the individual provinces to decide and plan to fly south for their booster shot, others are waiting for the US to give a green light to getting behind the wheel.

Open or closed

Quit aside from the booster shot issue, Tuesday is the deadline for the US Department of Homeland Security to declare whether it plans to ease the restrictions on non-essential travel over the Canada-US land border, or extend the prohibition for another 30 days.

So far, the US has largely remained silent on the issue. Air and sea travellers are exempt from the ban, though passengers by rail, ferry and pleasure boat are not.

Political pressure

A fresh batch of US Senate Democrats, including Michigan senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, Sen. Kirsten Gillebrand of New York and New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, wrote Friday to urge President Joe Biden to finally lift the ban.

“We believe that fully vaccinated Canadians should be allowed to safely travel into the United States via land ports of entry,” reads the letter, which was also signed by New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan, and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Sen. Angus King, the Independent from Maine.

“We urge you to lift these restrictions before October, provide a plan for reopening land ports of entry and appoint an interagency lead on US-Canadian border restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Establishing a liaison between the various agencies, the White House and Congress would help to ensure the issue gets the necessary attention and ensure lawmakers are kept in the loop, it says.

“An interagency lead would facilitate discussions between the administration and our offices and ensure that we are able to effectively convey the concerns of our constituents as you evaluate the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas, whose department oversees the US border agency, acknowledged the growing frustration during a National Press Club event last week in Washington.

“We had hoped that by now, we would have opened up travel through the ports of entry, but regrettably, because of the Delta variant, we’ve been delayed in doing so,” Mayorkas said.

The restrictions now include language that make it possible to relax or lift the ban entirely before the start of the next 30-day window, he added.

“Because we’ve renewed it for 30 days does not necessarily mean that the restriction will last for another 30 days,” Mayorkas said. “We have the ability, of course, to ease it or to eliminate it sooner if the data suggests that we should.”

Complications

Mayorkas acknowledged the southern border, scene of an escalating immigration crisis, is complicating matters. The department sent 400 more border agents and officers to the south Texas region where upwards of 14,000 migrants from Haiti have gathered, with more arriving daily, in hopes of winning asylum in the US

Some experts say the crisis at the US-Mexico border is making the White House wary about easing travel restrictions, particularly when travel from Canada is still possible via air and trade and commercial shipments have been moving largely unfettered since the start of the pandemic.

But there are families at the southern border who are suffering under the restrictions as well, said Devon Weber, the founder of Let Us Reunite, a grassroots advocacy group that’s pushing for the borders to be reopened.

“We cannot let migrants be used as a scapegoat for the government’s bureaucratic paralysis regarding land border policy,” Weber said in an email.

“There is a difference between immigration and opening the border to casual travel. The United States had 18 months to make a plan to safely reopen all the land borders and has chosen not to.”

Canadian Snowbirds

Some older travellers want to take their RVs, which provide both transportation and accommodation. Others want a vehicle at their disposal while in the US, and prefer to avoid the hassle of air travel, particularly since Canada’s decision to allow fully vaccinated visitors has dramatically slowed the customs clearance process.

Also, a shortage of available rental cars across North America has made that option expensive and increased the desirability of taking one’s own car. Helicopter services that fly Canadians across the border, for example from St. Catharines to Buffalo while their car is simultaneously shipped for pick-up, is expensive as is the cost of shipping a vehicle to the destination while they fly south.

Allowing Canadians entry to the US on flights puts the onus on airlines to determine medical protocols have been observed. But surely it would be as simple for border guards to access an app offering the same information when they check passports at the land borders.

Thirteen US states border Canada – Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Alaska. Others – particularly Florida, Arizona, and California attract Canadians looking to escape winter.

Prohibiting Canadians from entering the US by land is an inconvenience and a nuisance to many Canadians – but America’s border and sunnier states take a big economic hit by the lack of all those Canadians visitors – over all those months spending on accommodation, shopping, restaurants, entertainment, sports events and anything else you can think of.

Tomorrow is the 21st September. Canadians are cautiously hopeful, but not overly optimistic. Stay tuned.