Crossing the border to get the vaccine

[Magicat]

I have read recently on CTV News that the Canadian government is going to allow Canadians to drive across the border to receive a Covid vaccination in the US.  Upon return, they will not need to quarantine.  Is anyone considering of doing this?

[Sue from Canada]

Well if this is true then I'll drive 1 hour to the nearest border town to get my shot.

[lostinparadise999]

The news also said you need a Canadian medical note saying that the vaccine is necessary and an American medical note saying the vaccine is necessary so you can cross the border and return without quarantine. 

If you already got the 1st dose, the second dose is estimate to be less than the 16 weeks in BC. They are suggesting depending on supply about July in BC

[iancal]

No.  Had our first Pfizer shot in late March, expect to get the second within a few weeks.   

 

Both from pharmacy five minutes from our home. No line ups, in and out in 10 minutes.

 

Daughter and husband in Ft. Mac had the same experience, as did son and G/F in Toronto.

 

Our interest is in what type of certification/ proof of vaccine will be issued.  We can see the shot recorded on our on line Provincial Health Information system.  We have an International Record of Vaccination booklet that has our other travel jabs recorded however I suspect that this will not be acceptable proof of vaccination.

 

We are hoping to travel internationally in late fall and snowbird in SE Asia this coming winter.  I assume that this documentation may be required by various travel vendors and country immigration officials.

Edited May 21, 2021 by iancal

[TeaBag]

We are cancelling our sailing out of Southampton Sept 4 as we think it is too soon.  Then we wait till next April to sail from Japan.  I really hope things are back to some semblance of normalcy by then.  I can't wait.

Is your stay in SE Asia a land vacation or a cruise from there?  We will also visit SE Asia as part of the cruise that begins in Japan.  I love Singapore.

 

[iancal]

14 minutes ago, TeaBag said:

We are cancelling our sailing out of Southampton Sept 4 as we think it is too soon.  Then we wait till next April to sail from Japan.  I really hope things are back to some semblance of normalcy by then.  I can't wait.

Is your stay in SE Asia a land vacation or a cruise from there?  We will also visit SE Asia as part of the cruise that begins in Japan.  I love Singapore.

 

We have been spending winters in Thailand.   Land trips.  If we go this year it will be our 6th since retiring nine years ago. Possibly the last.  Long flights.  In the past we have combined it with time in Vietnam, Malaysia, and/or Australia.   Not certain if Thailand will be open to us by mid/late January.

 

We enjoyed Singapore, not so much the Philippines. 

 

We have done cruises from Australia.  We want to do an Asian cruise but not one that includes time in Thailand or Vietnam.  The cruise ports are either too far from the attractions for us or not where we want to be.  Perhaps a Japan cruise might be in the cards for us at some point.  We will not consider another cruise until well into 2023.

Edited May 21, 2021 by iancal

[TeaBag]

Never been to the Philippines.  I was going to say, too, that this will probably be our last time to Singapore and we only have a short time there since it is the changeover day between two segments.  I am also afraid of long flights and DVT now, but even London is long from here.

 

We are trying Azamara for this cruise and we hope they can dock a little closer to some of the places.  I am disappointed that we are not going to stop in Hanoi as the pictures I have seen of Halong Bay are fabulous.

 

I was amusing myself this AM looking at Oceania as they had an ad on FB.  They have some amazing itineraries around Japan.  I think the Azamara one before ours also has a Tokyo - Tokyo itinerary suggesting it is mostly Japan ports with the regulation (?) stop in Busan thrown in.

 

You are very adventurous to winter in Thailand.  We would probably love it as we love Thai food.  We have only overnighted in Bangkok.

[Blackduck59]

As to crossing the border to get the vaccine? No thankyou, we have been asked not to leave our Health authority. As a matter of fact it is preferred that we don't travel at all. Probably a good plan, dropping the ball now is like crashing in turn 4 of the last lap of the Indy 500 you finish behind everyone that didn't crash. Register for your vaccine, make the appointment and get it done, "this is our shot" we got the t-shirt. One more to go for us, perhaps sooner than originally planned with the increasing supply of vaccine. I hope that with the new approval for the younger age group that parents will bring their kids with them to get vaccinated. The key to opening things up so we can enjoy something resembling enjoyable is to hold our ground for a few more months (I was going to say weeks but months is more realistic).

[Magicat]

20 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

As to crossing the border to get the vaccine? No thankyou, we have been asked not to leave our Health authority. As a matter of fact it is preferred that we don't travel at all. Probably a good plan, dropping the ball now is like crashing in turn 4 of the last lap of the Indy 500 you finish behind everyone that didn't crash. Register for your vaccine, make the appointment and get it done, "this is our shot" we got the t-shirt. One more to go for us, perhaps sooner than originally planned with the increasing supply of vaccine. I hope that with the new approval for the younger age group that parents will bring their kids with them to get vaccinated. The key to opening things up so we can enjoy something resembling enjoyable is to hold our ground for a few more months (I was going to say weeks but months is more realistic).

 

Good advice.  

[middlehaitch]

Todays announcement by Dr Henry dropped the BC wait time between vaccines from approximately 16 weeks to 8. I should be fully vaccinated by the end of June. Still don't think I want to do my Med cruise in September.

 

There is no way I would venture into the USA for a vaccine even if I had to wait until December for my jab. I'm too law abiding, and wouldn't feel comfortable travelling there right now.

 

Cheers, h.

[iancal]

We are fine with our sched.  First Pfizer at the end of March, second shot at the pharmacy in three days.  No  need to go stateside even if we were so inclined.

 

 

Edited June 1, 2021 by iancal

[broberts]

Mothers 2nd Pfizer shot just got moved up a month. 

 

We are getting shots at Sunnybrook. They gave us a printed vaccination receipt with all the relavent data when we were finished the waiting period.

[TeaBag]

We are also booked for our second, June 9.  We couldn't believe how fast the bookings were disappearing when we booked.  you would select a time and by the time you got to book it, it was gone!  Glad to see so many anxious to be fully vaccinated.

 

I agree with middlehaitch that Sept is too soon to sail.  We cancelled our booking.

[iancal]

 We got an email on Monday PM from our pharmacy asking us to book our second Pfizer shot.  We select a Friday AM apt. 

 

 We both got the shot today.  We went 10 minutes early. The pharmacy was empty...no line up.  Got our shot immediately and left ten minutes later.  No one waiting for a shot when we left. We were quite surprised at how quickly we got in and by the fact that there were apparently many openings available in the near term. 

Edited June 4, 2021 by iancal

[TeaBag]

You must be thrilled.  We are expecting to wait an hour when we go next Wed as that was what it was like the last time.  The mistake we made was coming at the time of the appt.  On Wed we will do like others did and get there a half hour early.

 

So now you can get on with planning your next cruise!

[gnome12]

I was told to only arrive 10 minutes early for my vaccination. Even so, I had a bit of a wait for the second shot; about 15 minutes later than booked, but 25 minutes of waiting in line.

 

Today I did transfer the cancellation insurance from my trip that was scheduled for May 2020 to the rescheduled date of September 2021. I wasn't sure that they would do it because I didn't talk to them at the time they rescheduled the trip, but they were good about it. I hadn't realized that if you don't claim you can transfer travel insurance from one trip to another if the trip doesn't go. (It has to be within 18 months, but I just made it.)

[Sue from Canada]

6 hours ago, gnome12 said:

I was told to only arrive 10 minutes early for my vaccination. Even so, I had a bit of a wait for the second shot; about 15 minutes later than booked, but 25 minutes of waiting in line.

 

Today I did transfer the cancellation insurance from my trip that was scheduled for May 2020 to the rescheduled date of September 2021. I wasn't sure that they would do it because I didn't talk to them at the time they rescheduled the trip, but they were good about it. I hadn't realized that if you don't claim you can transfer travel insurance from one trip to another if the trip doesn't go. (It has to be within 18 months, but I just made it.)

I didn't know you can transfer your canc insurance from one trip to another if the former doesn't go.  Which Co. did you use?  I'm looking for canc. insurance fro my sailing to Hawaii this November.

[iancal]

9 hours ago, TeaBag said:

You must be thrilled.  We are expecting to wait an hour when we go next Wed as that was what it was like the last time.  The mistake we made was coming at the time of the appt.  On Wed we will do like others did and get there a half hour early.

 

So now you can get on with planning your next cruise!

No cruise for us.  We will wait.  Possibly in late 2022.  We are hoping  to  do some land travels in the late fall.  Hopefully Greece and Cyprus.  It will be a last minute decision based on covid and Health Canada travel  recommendations.

Edited June 5, 2021 by iancal

[gnome12]

3 hours ago, Sue from Canada said:

I didn't know you can transfer your canc insurance from one trip to another if the former doesn't go.  Which Co. did you use?  I'm looking for canc. insurance fro my sailing to Hawaii this November.

I heard about it here on the River Cruising board, but I didn't know that it was the same in Canada. My cancellation insurance (actually a non-medical package) is with CAA Insurance (which is Orion travel insurance). I presume that you could also transfer a medical package, but I haven't had one in years; I  was covered for out of province medical by my group insurance at work until I retired, and now by a post-retirement plan that I pay for myself. You obviously can't have made a claim on the original policy.