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During a lengthy briefing on British Columbia’s fight against COVID-19 today, Dr. Bonnie Henry took a few minutes to address the concern over international travel for those who mixed vaccines.
The biggest concerns come from those who took the AstraZeneca vaccine, either for both doses or just a first, and Henry stressed that those people did the right thing.
“Your efforts have helped to reduce the spread of this virus here in BC,” she explained.
“All of Canada’s vaccines are highly effective in every combination that we have and I presented data last week that showed that here in BC and we have similar data from other provinces across the country.”
Despite the data showing that even a mix and match of vaccines provides adequate protection against COVID-19, that concern over travel restrictions in certain countries still exists.
However, BC’s top doctor urges people to “be patient,” as the province is actively working with Health Canada to ensure Canada has a single internationally-recognized vaccine passport that includes these vaccine combinations.
She said the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC)0 continues to work with other countries, specifically the United States, in this regard.
Henry admitted that there’s a lot of concern about travel to the US right now, but there are no vaccine restrictions to do so by air and she doesn’t expect restriction by land once the time for that type of travel comes.
“They will be updating requirements in the coming weeks as we get closer to the land border hopefully reopening,” she noted.
She added that the PHAC is also working with colleagues in the United Kingdom and European Union, as well as a number of important sun destinations for Canadians, as well.
Mixed doses have been a part of the immunization program in many of these countries, including 19 EU countries and the UK.
Henry said these combinations are being recognized by many of those countries and that approval of mixed doses will continue to grow as it is supported by more data.
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