Canada COVID-19 vaccine mandate: Report says Trudeau to announce new guidelines

CBC News reported that the Canadian government will announce an end to COVID-19 vaccine mandates for domestic travel on planes and trains and outgoing international travel.

Citing unidentified sources familiar with the matter, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that the Trudeau administration may bring back the vaccine mandate if a new variant of the virus is discovered.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has faced criticism over ongoing pandemic restrictions, suspended random COVID testing at all its airports for the rest of June to ease long waiting times that travellers have been facing.

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His government had made it compulsory for federal civil servants to get inoculated while unvaccinated people were barred from travelling to keep travellers and employees in the industry safe, according to Transport Minister Omar Alghabra.

In response to delays and long lineups at airports, the Canadian government has been under pressure to relax some public health measures from the opposition parties, as well as industry organisations.

With the emergence of the more infectious Omicron variant, experts have questioned the effectiveness of vaccine mandates touted by Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos as an effective way of getting more Canadians vaccinated.

After testing positive following his trip to the United States for the Summit of the Americas, Trudeau said his lack of severe symptoms was "because I got my shots."

(With inputs from agencies)

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