B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
The U.S. says it will allow Canadians into the country who have received a mixed COVID-19 vaccine schedule, when the U.S. opens its borders to fully vaccinated travellers on Nov. 8.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that although it has not recommended mixing doses for Americans, “we recognize that this is increasingly common in other countries so should be accepted for the interpretation of vaccine records."
Canada and some other countries have allowed the mixing of viral vector vaccines like AstraZeneca with the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines, while the U.S. has not.
With nearly four million Canadians having received a mixed vaccine schedule -- including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau -- the question of whether other countries would recognize their status as fully vaccinated has been an ongoing concern, particularly as borders begin reopening to fully vaccinated travellers.
Travellers are considered fully vaccinated if they have had both doses of a two-dose vaccine or one dose of a single-dose regimen at least two weeks before the travel date.
The announcement by the CDC is the latest in a series of developments this week that marks the beginning of the end of the closures along the world’s longest undefended border that has lasted a record 19 months. U.S. and Canada closed its land borders to all non-essential travel on March 21, 2020, 10 days after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a pandemic.
Earlier this week, the CDC said it would recognize air travellers who had been fully vaccinated with any vaccine approved or recognized for emergency use by the WHO or the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This would include AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, even though it has not yet been approved for use in the U.S. Friday’s update made clear that the same policy would apply for those travelling to the U.S. by land.
The CDC updated its public health recommendations for fully vaccinated individuals on Friday, and said that “for the purposes of interpretation of vaccination records” individuals were considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the last dose of an FDA or WHO approved or authorized vaccine, “or any combination of two doses of an FDA approved/authorized or WHO emergency use listed COVID-19 two-dose series.” While the recommended interval between the first and second doses vary, the CDC added that it would recognize any regimen where the second dose was “received no earlier than 17 days (21 days with a four day grace period) after the first dose.”
While Canada will still require any eligible American traveller entering the country to show a negative test result at the border, Canadian citizens will not be required to show proof of a negative test before crossing into the U.S. via a land or sea port of entry. U.S. air travel rules still require proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken no more than three days before departure.
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
The Canadian Transportation Agency has hit a record high of more than 71,000 complaints in a backlog. The quasi-judicial regulator and tribunal tasked with settling disputes between customers and the airlines says the backlog is growing because the number of incoming complaints keeps increasing.
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Philadelphia 76ers All-Star centre Joel Embiid has been diagnosed with Bell’s palsy, a form of facial paralysis he says has affected him since before the play-in tournament.
An American Airlines flight attendant was indicted Thursday after authorities said he tried to secretly record video of a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom last September.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.