Canadians being vaccinated in Mexico

Canadians who received the Sinovac need to complain to the consulate in Guadalajara.

CanuckBob wrote:Canadians who received the Sinovac need to complain to the consulate in Guadalajara.

??? No one was forced to take that vaccine. It's the only one that was offered in my area and I didn't get it, for exactly that reason, that it might not be accepted for return to Canada. I'm going up to Canada in early July, will have to do the quarantine, and will get vaxxed in Canada. So it goes.

Well I received the AZ locally so not my concern however it's about the only recourse for those that received the Sinovac. Not everyone could afford to fly to Canada and pay thousands in hotel fees. Good for you.

CanuckBob wrote:Well I received the AZ locally so not my concern however it's about the only recourse for those that received the Sinovac. Not everyone could afford to fly to Canada and pay thousands in hotel fees. Good for you.

Oh, I am not going to Canada for the sole purpose of getting vaxxed there. I'm going because I haven't seen my daughters and grandkids in 2 years and I have some Canadian business to take care of. I normally go every summer for a month or so, but I didn't go at all last summer because of Covid. So I saved that money I usually set aside for the trip.

I had already resigned myself to the fact that this trip would cost me a lot more than normal, but it isn't actually that bad- the flight from PV to Comox (with 3 day hotel quarantine in Calgary) is $436 CAN, the 3 day hotel stay, meals included, is $581. And Westjet is offering no penalty flight changes and cancellations on all flights booked before June 30. (on the off-chance that I test positive at some point)

I will stay at my daughter's, up near Comox. They are going to set up a big tent for me to stay in to finish out the quarantine and they live in the countryside- we can eat outside together, distancing. They will have been vaxxed by that point, I think their age group is eligible this week.

The bummer is that you have to book the entire 3 day hotel quarantine, and none of it is refundable. But I have talked to a couple of friends who have done this trip recently, and they all got their test results in Canada back within 15 hours of landing, so they are then free to carry on to where they will be finishing out the quarantine. So I will be paying for 3 nights in the hotel, but probably only staying one or two nights.The hotel owners have a pretty sweet deal. But the hotel guy I talked to when booking it said they aren't allowed to rerent that room anyway until those 3 days are up, even if it's been unoccupied.

As far as not getting whatever vax was available here to protect myself and others, I live rurally, I didn't go out that much even before Covid, so I figured I would just stick it out with my isolating, masking, distancing, etc. unless a Pfizer was offered here, as I knew I'd be going to Canada this summer and could get vaxxed there. If I'd had no plans to go back to Canada, I would have gotten the Sinovac that was offered here.

You are lucky to be going via Calgary. In Vancouver they are charging over $1000 Cad for the hotel stay according to some guests I had that went back.

CanuckBob wrote:You are lucky to be going via Calgary. In Vancouver they are charging over $1000 Cad for the hotel stay according to some guests I had that went back.

Like airline tickets, booking several weeks ahead can get you lower prices than close to the dates. Maybe it was expensive for your friends because of that.
There are only 5 govt. quarantine hotels in Calgary, and most were in the over $800 range- I was surprised this one was so much less (it's the Best Western). Hopefully the food will be edible :-)

The thing is, all the flights from P.V. to B.C. go via Calgary, except for Saturday flights, and the Saturday dates didn't work for me, so I didn't exactly choose to stay in Calgary.

Wide Sky wrote:

So you still have to do the 3 days in hotel and 11 days in quarantine.

As I mentioned above, you don't necessarily have to stay at the hotel for 3 days, you can go on to your destination as soon as you get the test results back, which seems to be within 15 hours, according to the two groups of friends I talked to who just went through this. But you do have to book the hotel for the full three days with no refund if you leave early.

It's a package deal at those quarantine hotels- they have certain areas of hotel rooms set aside for quarantine travelers, and booking is automatically for 3 days with meals included. Nor do you get a choice of rooms, it's assigned according to the number of travelers in your party.

As they haven't announced a date yet to lift the hotel stay requirement, aside from "early July" for vaccinated travelers, I suppose anyone planning a trip for July could hold off on the hotel booking, but the prices would likely go up the closer to check-in you wait to book.

CHILLIN wrote:I don't think Canada is to the point where you can just walk into Shoppers Drugmart and buy the vaccine of your choice.

No, that isn't my plan. My daughter called the health authority vax line for the area, and explained that her mom was coming up from Mexico, is 71 years old, and would need a vaccine. They said no problem, I just have to call them and register, which I'll do this week. And they are using Pfizers.

The CBC is already reporting on the issue of Sinovac being administered to Canadian expats around the world. I imagine Canada will be considering Sinovac soon. Unfortunately I couldn't paste the link but you can find the report on the CBC news site.

Vaccinated Canadians overseas frustrated that they were left out of new entry rules
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a group of people sitting at a beach: Calgary-native Katie Gibson — pictured at an Abu Dhabi beach with her husband, Ben, and three-year-old twins, Nash and Brooklyn, — felt it was important to take the first COVID-19 vaccine available to her in the United Arab Emirates. She was dismayed to learn Ottawa may still require her to quarantine for 14 days if she enters Canada even if it lifts that restriction for those who have vaccines approved by Health Canada. Katie Gibson Calgary-native Katie Gibson — pictured at an Abu Dhabi beach with her husband, Ben, and three-year-old twins, Nash and Brooklyn, — felt it was important to take the first COVID-19 vaccine available to her in the United Arab Emirates. She was dismayed…
When the Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccine was offered to Katie Gibson in Abu Dhabi, there was no doubt in her mind she should take it.

The 36-year-old teacher originally from Calgary said she and her husband didn't hesitate to take the only COVID-19 vaccine they could get in the United Arab Emirates at the time.

"It's available to us [so] let's just get it," she recalled thinking. "A vaccine is a vaccine."

After two years abroad, Gibson said her family of four desperately wants to get home this summer. And falling case counts in Canada had been giving them hope that stringent COVID-19-related border restrictions would be eased enough to make the trip possible.

So when the federal government announced last week that vaccinated Canadians could soon be allowed to skip the hotel stay and — after receiving a negative COVID-19 test — the rest of the 14-day entry quarantine that has been required since February for people entering the country, Gibson was dismayed to learn that may not apply to her.

While the eased restriction is expected to make it easier for Canadians who have Ottawa-approved COVID-19 vaccines to enter the country, it may not include Gibson and others living abroad who have been immunized with vaccines that are not on Canada's list.

Not on the list
Last week, the federal government stipulated the eased requirements would apply only to Canadians with a vaccine approved by Health Canada, such as Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca-Oxford and Janssen.

Despite being approved for use by the World Health Organization (WHO), Sinopharm is not on the list.

"I think it's ridiculous because you have so many people overseas who were given a different vaccine," said Gibson. "The WHO recognized it so I don't see why Canada won't recognize it."

Also not included is Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, which is being distributed across Russia, Mexico, India and several South American countries, including Brazil and Argentina. It's also approved for use in Hungary, Serbia and Slovakia.

'You thought you were doing something positive'
Lynne Tognet-Loge, a Canadian nurse who has lived in Moscow for 10 years, took the Russian vaccine in February — soon after it was first offered to foreigners. As a health-care professional, Tognet-Loge said she decided it was important to take the only vaccine available to protect herself and others.

"It's just disappointing first and foremost that you thought you were doing something positive in returning to this new normal and now you're now being told it's just inconsequential," she said.

Sputnik is awaiting approval by the WHO.

Tognet-Loge said she had been hoping to return home to Winnipeg this summer but has now decided not to because she can't spare a month of holidays that would be needed to accommodate the extra two weeks in isolation.


Video: Many Canadians stuck in limbo over 2nd vaccine dose (cbc.ca)

Many Canadians stuck in limbo over 2nd vaccine dose
"I was disappointed that they don't think other vaccines can be as effective as their own Health Canada vaccines," Tognet-Loge said.

Both she and Gibson believe the government should tailor its new policy to accommodate non-Health Canada approved vaccines, perhaps by halving the long quarantine time followed by a negative COVID-19 test.

Since February, Ottawa has required all air travellers returning from non-essential trips abroad to isolate in federally mandated facilities for up to 72 hours while they await the results of polymerase chain reaction tests — commonly known as PCR tests — for COVID-19. People arriving at land borders are required to take COVID-19 tests when they enter the country and again during their 14-day isolation period.

No explanation from Health Canada
CBC News asked Health Canada to explain why people with other vaccines wouldn't be eligible for eased restrictions. But in an emailed response, Health Canada did not elaborate on the reasons for excluding other vaccines and instead reiterated that more information on the changes — expected to take effect in early July — will be available in the coming weeks.

Last month, a panel of experts set up to advise the Health Minister recommended Ottawa scrap the required hotel stay and allow travellers who have had at least a single dose to leave self-isolation as soon as they test negative. The report went on to say unvaccinated travellers should only have to quarantine for seven days before taking a test.

The next week, the government said changes to the 14-day requirement would be announced soon.

'We did what we thought was right'
Janelle Thomas, a 43-year-old singer originally from Victoriaville, Que., who now works in Dubai, said Ottawa's approach is alienating Canadians overseas.

"Hey man, we tried," said Thomas, who took the Sinopharm vaccine, like other residents of the UAE which is home to upwards of 40,000 Canadians. "We did what we thought was right.

"We followed all of the rules, we got vaccinated, we took what we could get."

Thomas said it's wrong to penalize Canadians who live overseas by making it harder for them to return home for a visit when they have jobs elsewhere.

"From a global standpoint, if the WHO certifies a vaccine you have to respect that," said Dr. Zain Chagla, associate professor at McMaster University and an infectious disease physician.

"You can't just say, 'You have to get the vaccine we want,' when it's not available and when that country has no contract to get it and then expect people to have it when they travel in," Chagla said. "It creates an unfair compromise."

Good reason to be cautious: Expert
Dr. Gerald Evans, Chair of Infectious Diseases at Queens University, said there is good reason for Canada to be cautious with Sputnik and Sinopharm because peer-reviewed data on their efficacies is still limited.

"I think [with] many of these countries where these vaccines have been approved, the challenge is the transparency of this data collection," Evans said. "It's getting the data out so someone can take a look at it."

a group of people looking at a phone: A man flashes a victory sign after getting a shot of the Sputnik V vaccine at the start of vaccinations for people over age 60 at the Universidad Mayor de San Andres public university in La Paz, Bolivia, on April 27, 2021. Juan Karita/The Associated Press A man flashes a victory sign after getting a shot of the Sputnik V vaccine at the start of vaccinations for people over age 60 at the Universidad Mayor de San Andres public university in La Paz, Bolivia, on April 27, 2021.
Regardless, Evans said Canada's current quarantine rules and approach to returning citizens needs updating.

"The government wants a one size fits all approach, without having any variation in it," he said.

The UK and some other European countries are using a targeted 'traffic light' system to distinguish between high- and low-risk countries.

Some countries such as Croatia will accept proof of past infection in lieu of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Thomas, the Dubai-based singer, said with Ottawa's roll out of the border changes progressing so slowly, many overseas Canadians likely will have little choice but to scrap their summer homecomings and wait for another opportunity later.

"It feels like we're stuck," she said.

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Bartdude wrote:We arrived in Calgary on Saturday. I had booked a suite at the Acclaim Airport hotels for $475.00 per night. At check in at the hotel they told us that if we got our results and could check out by 11:00 on Monday they would refund the last night. We were told the same again when we checked out yesterday but the credit is not on the statement yet.

Yes, one couple I know did get the hotel in Vancouver to agree to refund unstayed nights. The difference would seem to be how expensive the room is to start with- they said they booked an expensive place.

So your cost for 3 nights would have been $1425, and mine is $581. Even if I get my test results back after one night, I'll likely stay for 2- I could use the rest before carrying on. So I'll be paying $387 for 2 nights, forfeiting $194. You'll be paying $475 for one night. Maybe your room and the food will be more deluxe than mine :-)

ComputerGuy wrote:

I also have an ongoing issue with suggestions like reducing the quarantine to 7 days. The so-called "traveller's quarantine" is standard, not just for Covid. In what scientific world does halving that quarantine make sense? .

A lot of it doesn't make much sense. I have to have a PCR test before getting on the plane. Then I have to have another when I arrive. That's all sensible- I could have been infected in the airport or the plane.

Then I have to have another test on day 8 of my quarantine. That's the part I don't get. If I test negative on the first 2 tests, and I'm to stay in quarantine for 14 days, wouldn't make more sense to test again on day 12 or 13, rather than day 8?