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Canada

Canada To End COVID-19 Vaccine Travel Requirements, Make ArriveCan App Optional (bbc.com) 58

Canada has said it is dropping all remaining Covid border restrictions, including vaccine requirements for travelers. The BBC reports: As of 1 October, travelers will also no longer need to provide proof of Covid vaccination, to undergo any testing or to isolate and quarantine. The mask mandate on planes and trains will also be lifted. The ArriveCan app -- used to upload health documents when entering Canada -- will become optional.

Federal health minister Jean-Yves Duclos said in an announcement on Monday that Canada is "in a much better position" than it was earlier in the pandemic, in part due to availability of Covid-19 vaccines and treatment options. The country's high vaccination rate - with around 82% of the population having received two doses - and a falling death rate are also factors.
The report notes that vaccine mandates for travelers entering the U.S. remain in place.

Further reading: Japan To Allow Visa-Free Travel After 2 1/2 Years of Mostly Closed Borders
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Canada To End COVID-19 Vaccine Travel Requirements, Make ArriveCan App Optional

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  • six months (Score:5, Insightful)

    by phantomfive ( 622387 ) on Monday September 26, 2022 @06:48PM (#62916241) Journal

    It's been over six months since anyone in Canada checked if you had a COVID test when you crossed the border.

    • It's been over six months since anyone in Canada checked if you had a COVID test when you crossed the border.

      Well, the Government is the one selling weed there, so this announcement really shouldn't be misconstrued as some kind of delay...more like an expectation.

      • > Well, the Government is the one selling weed there, so this announcement really shouldn't be misconstrued as some kind of delay...more like an expectation.
        This is not true. The provincial government is, in some provinces, involved in the sale of cannibis products, but suggesting that the government is selling weed is both an inaccurate distortion and a lie (or simply incorrect).
        • > Well, the Government is the one selling weed there, so this announcement really shouldn't be misconstrued as some kind of delay...more like an expectation. This is not true. The provincial government is, in some provinces, involved in the sale of cannibis products, but suggesting that the government is selling weed is both an inaccurate distortion and a lie (or simply incorrect).

          "In 2018 Canada became the second country in the world after Uruguay to legalize marijuana for recreational adult use, and the first G7 country to do so."

          You can split hairs over provinces all you want, but until the "Government" starts arresting citizens and shutting down cannabis companies within provinces where it is sold (like they have in America), I'd say my statement is far more accurate than not.

      • by Ksevio ( 865461 )

        Yet they still will detain you from taking weed across the border

        • Of course. They want you to buy your green leaf with the maple leaf tax stamp.

          In my opinion, and it's not universally popular, any country that allows its citizens to drink alcohol shouldn't waste the police and legislative energy to outlaw cannabis. As long as the alcohol and cannabis are purchased from licensed outlets, people should be allowed to stupidly ingest their mood-altering poison of choice. There should be laws to prevent certain activities while impaired (driving, working, positions of trust,

    • by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

      And to be completely correct, Canada is literally doing nothing

      The measures that Canada is "lifting" were already set to expire on September 30. They were implemented as a time limited set of rules with an expiry date. Now, those measures could be renewed if necessary, but the measures were already set to expire at the end of the month

      The only thing announced was that the temporary measures enacted were not going to be renewed and thus they're being lifted purely because the law making it so expires.

      As much

    • by ahodgson ( 74077 )

      No, they still pick people randomly and force them to get tested.

    • by mjwx ( 966435 )

      It's been over six months since anyone in Canada checked if you had a COVID test when you crossed the border.

      A reaction after just six months... the Canadian government is moving at light speed.

    • So, you're telling me that I basically wasted my time registering with ArriveCan when I went to Canada last month?

    • Very few countries tested at their entry borders. They offloaded this responsibility to airlines who were responsible for checking before boarding the plane to a destination with mandatory checks and threatened airlines with the bills for deportation of someone was randomly caught on the other end. It's a process that has worked almost universally among the West.

  • In America, we require a number of vaccines for travelers, except oddly, not for illegal aliens. The west is now being hit by old bugs like Polio. The only way to stop these is for students to be rquired to have vaccines, as well as ALL travelers.
    And yes, that absolutely should include covid.
    • Oh Jesus Christ (Score:4, Interesting)

      by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Monday September 26, 2022 @07:35PM (#62916351)
      The West is not being hit by polio the Northeast is because of a handful of religious organizations that refuse to take the polio vaccine or any vaccine for that matter.

      Refugees require vaccinations and will be giving them when they're processed. People here illegally in the absence of medical misinformation are generally smart enough to seek out vaccination but often can't get it out of fear of being deported.

      If you have a problem with that change our foreign policy so that we don't have people fleeing the messes we caused. If you go buy a home Depot you don't see a whole bunch of hosers hanging out waiting for day labor. It's generally only people from countries we keep sending the CIA down to so that we can have cheap bananas. If you want to get rid of illegal aliens you're going to have to pay an extra 5 or 10 cents per pound for bananas.
      • Refugees require vaccinations and will be giving them when they're processed

        Last time I checked (and I did check), Mexico had a higher vaccination rate than Oregon. Illegal immigrants aren't the ones bringing diseases.

        • When you only count the middle and upper class population of the major cities then yes their vax rate looks great. There are large chunks of that country where population is a random guess because nobody is dumb enough to get their head cut off over a census.
          • Those are mostly taken care of by various public works projects. Mind you those public works projects aren't being done out of the goodness of anyone's heart they just don't want the disease to spread but nonetheless it means those people are pretty damn well vaccinated. At least against stuff like polio.

            And as long as you play ball with the cartels nobody's going to get their heads cut off. You just need to bring your bribes and accept that every now and then they're going to take all your stuff. When
        • First off, Mexico's vax rate is not 100%. And it is the poorest, who come here which are also not vaxed.
          Secondly, most of the illegals entering America are no longer from Mexico (we have moved a great deal of our manufacturing there). Instead, they are coming from central America and Venezuela. Oddly, none of the other nations down there give them refuge. Costa Rica, Panama, and Mexico pass them RIGHT ON UP.
          • First off, Mexico's vax rate is not 100%. And it is the poorest, who come here which are also not vaxed.

            Yeah, and imagine that, they have a higher vaccination rate than a bunch or rich idiots in America.

            Secondly, most of the illegals entering America are no longer from Mexico (we have moved a great deal of our manufacturing there). Instead, they are coming from central America and Venezuela.

            Alright, if you're going to make accusations, you should look up the data before doing it, otherwise you just look like an angry ignoramus. Which you literally are, because you didn't look up the data to see what the vaccination rate is in El Salvador.

            Look up the data before writing. Don't be an ignoramus.

      • The illegal aliens are NOT required to take them. Total BS in my book since we required it of kids, medical, transportation, military, AND ALL LEGAL VISITORS [heritage.org]
        The ones parked in front of my home depot are not there for jobs. They are doing drugs and stealing from the stores. It is the SAME BS on the entire west coast.
        HTF does stopping illegal aliens change the price of bananas that we get from Guatemala, Ecuador, and Costa Rica?
        The CIA has not played with governments since reagan.
    • That's not why polio is spreading. This is why polio is spreading https://www.wcpo.com/news/nati... [wcpo.com]
    • Yes and no. Yes for the obvious gut reasons. No because it's closing the door after the horse is out. Almost by definition, vaccines will never get fully ahead of novel pathogens that you might want to keep out.

      • No because it's closing the door after the horse is out.

        It is NEVER too late to stop a disease that has just made a small showing to get ppl vax and stop it in its tract.

        And no, vax will never solve novel pathogens.HOWEVER, the tools that are available today and AMAZING compared to what we had in the 80s, or even in the 00s.
        Now, pathogens can be isolated within a month or two (it took us more than 4 years to isolate HIV back in '81), sequenced in a month, and a novel vax can be ready for testing within another month or so. And now, numerous mRNA reactors ha

    • by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

      You know the polio in the sewers is from the vaccine, right?

      • Yes. the virus found in NYC sewer is from the live virus, and that has NOTHING to do with the version that is spreading.
        • by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

          and that has NOTHING to do with the version that is spreading.

          Um, what? The version that is spreading is from the live virus vaccine, and the virus in the sewers is from that spread. It's also probably been there forever, but nobody was looking for it before COVID.

    • How would you even implement a requirement for illegal aliens?
      • The illegal aliens I am talking about are walking across the border and turn themselves in. Then they are being held in jails. Later, they will be released while waiting for a trial.
        However, biden did not require that these ppl be vaccinated, and yet, we required it of citizens and legal tourists.

        But, I would take this 1 step further and offer ALL vaxes FREELY to citizens AND to aliens (legal and illegal). Far far cheaper to spend $.50/on a vax, then to spend $100K-1M / sick person.
  • by quenda ( 644621 ) on Monday September 26, 2022 @07:26PM (#62916327)

    Like the US or Australia, healthcare in Canada is largely done at the provincial level, except in emergency.
    Some provinces require vaccination for diseases like polio and measles for school children, others do not.
    Vaccine levels are generally very good, but in recent years there have been minor outbreak of measles. Worse is feared, due to an epidemic of antivaxnutterism spreading across the uncontrolled southern border. Some are advocating a Wall.

  • by klipclop ( 6724090 ) on Monday September 26, 2022 @07:27PM (#62916331)
    It didn't work on my phone running lineageos with microg. It said my phone was rooted (even though not rooted) and insecure, so I wasn't allowed to use it. ArriveCan was just a poorly implemented backdoor attempt to try and digitize road border crossings data. Hopefully this CRapp is gone for good.
    • by ArchieBunker ( 132337 ) on Monday September 26, 2022 @07:48PM (#62916373)

      . ArriveCan was just a poorly implemented backdoor attempt to try and digitize road border crossings data. Hopefully this CRapp is gone for good.

      Like they already didn't scan your passport, take a photo of your license plate and your face, record your interaction on video while talking...

    • What did you do then? Did you just not cross the border?

    • by Anonymous Coward

      It didn't work on my phone running lineageos with microg. It said my phone was rooted (even though not rooted) and insecure, so I wasn't allowed to use it. ArriveCan was just a poorly implemented backdoor attempt to try and digitize road border crossings data. Hopefully this CRapp is gone for good.

      Why anyone would use an app when the website does the same thing is beyond me.

      • by Ksevio ( 865461 )

        Because you can show them a QR code on your phone with the app offline in areas with spotty coverage. Definitely easier for people travelling across the border regularly

    • Ugh, it shouldn't matter one iota to them if you have your phone rooted. I hate these apps that discriminate against people who want to own their own devices. I can't even use TikTok if I wanted to because they also think root is evil.
    • by tlhIngan ( 30335 ) <slashdot.worf@net> on Tuesday September 27, 2022 @06:49AM (#62917381)

      It didn't work on my phone running lineageos with microg. It said my phone was rooted (even though not rooted) and insecure, so I wasn't allowed to use it. ArriveCan was just a poorly implemented backdoor attempt to try and digitize road border crossings data. Hopefully this CRapp is gone for good.

      It's not gone, it's just made optional.

      It just means going back to the tedious form you have to fill out prior to entry again, similar to the form you fill out when going to the US. It's just you have two other options - you could use the kiosk or the app.

      As for your phone, it likely says it's rooted because it's missing the security store support needed to hold the encryption keys. Shouldn't leave things like passport information unencrypted on the device, after all so it probably requires the security store to encrypt the information so other apps can't get access easy access to the data.

      Of course, I wish the US would have an app to do it. Filling out the US form is quite annoying and they never give you enough space to enter the street address and such.

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      It sounds like they used the same security check feature that many other apps handling sensitive data do, e.g. banking and health. Android has an API that checks the device is running a known secure OS. It was necessary to get things like banking apps on the platform, while also keeping it open so you could root or replace the OS if you wanted to.

      Apple's walled garden has no such feature because the banks rely on Apple blocking any attempt to liberate the device.

      I guess Canada decided to use that feature in

  • The country isn't willing to offer more funding for the provinces for healthcare because they fear it would be mismanaged... which, to be honest, is probably a justifiable concern.

    But right now, the healhcare system in most provinces in Canada has all but entirely collapsed. Where it is utterly impossible for anyone who does not already have a family doctor to find one. Where you can wait upwards of 20 hours in the emergency ward of a hospital before you will be seen by a doctor for all of 5 minutes

  • I hope all countries can achieve a high vaccination rate like Canada. Not only that it ensures the herd immunity of its citizens, but also gives way in lifting the pandemic restrictions we had during the isolation period. As a healthcare professional, I am a fan of Canadian government when it comes to prioritizing the healthcare of their citizens. (https://smartcreations30.wixsite.com/smart-creations)

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