Canadians get vaccinated against COVID-19 in the United States
And it's a legitimate way not to wait your turn to get vaccinated.
Vaccination in Canada is not moving at the fastest pace, but more and more cities in the U.S. are vaccinating Canadian citizens with no problem — just show a passport.
"In Washington state, and in most of the United States, it really doesn't matter what status a person has," says Len Saunders, an immigration attorney in Blaine, Wash. — If you're in the U.S., you can just walk into any pharmacy and they'll give you a shot if there are enough doses.
Many people turn to Saunders, thinking it's illegal to fly to the U.S. for vaccinations.
"And I say: that's absolutely not true. Americans are happy to vaccinate as many people as possible. It's great that Canadians have the opportunity to fly here if they want to make the effort and get vaccinated early instead of waiting forever in Canada," he said.
The land border between Canada and the US will soon remain closed, and one cannot come to the US without a valid reason, but Canadian citizens are allowed to fly in. This will require a negative COVID-19 test.
Natasha Fredius from Toronto shared her story with journalists. In early April, she and her husband, who holds dual Canadian and US citizenship, and their two children decided to travel to the States to get vaccinated because they had yet to get their shots in Canada.
"We want to see our family in the States this summer, and my husband and I wanted to be fully vaccinated for that," Natasha said, "so we decided it was worth going to the US to get vaccinated.
The family went to Ashtabula, Ohio, because proof of residency is not required there. They made their appointment online.
"We called to see if there would be a problem, because we didn't want to drive that long and then find out that those who live in Canada are not eligible for vaccinations. But the pharmacy said it was okay," Fredius says.
The process, according to Natasha, went very quickly. They spent no more than 5 minutes in the pharmacy.
Canadians don't just travel to the United States on their own initiative. Individual border towns in Canada and the United States are making agreements to exchange vaccines. Last month, for example, the governor of Alaska offered vaccines to residents of Stewart, British Columbia. Point Roberts, a city in Washington state, also offered surplus vaccines to British Columbia. Last week, the province of Manitoba had an agreement with the state of North Dakota to vaccinate teachers and school staff.
