Canadian retirees hope for prompt COVID booster shots in U.S. South

Canadian snowbirds will be watching closely this week, suitcases at the ready 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 U.S. instead — and many are planning on getting a COVID-19 booster shot as soon as they get there, said Toronto travel insurance broker Martin Firestone.

“The feeling I’m getting from my clientele is, ‘I will go down south as I always had planned to, but I will get my third booster shot down there and probably get it a lot quicker than I ever would waiting here,’ ” Firestone said in an interview.

“People who are heading south are going to go get that booster down in the States, I can assure you of that.”

On Friday, the U.S. 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.

With Canada still a long way from formally deciding whether to offer boosters, many with U.S. travel plans simply don’t want to wait for the federal health authorities and the individual provinces to make up their minds, Firestone said.

Others are waiting for the U.S. to give a green light to getting behind the wheel.

Tuesday is the deadline for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to declare whether it plans to ease the restrictions on non-essential travel over the Canada-U.S. land border, or extend the prohibition for another 30 days.

The U.S. has largely remained silent on when it might begin to ease the restrictions. Air and sea travellers are exempt from the ban, though passengers by rail, ferry and pleasure boat are not.