BUFFALO, N.Y. — As efforts to reopen the United States-Canada border continue, a question has come to the surface: can Canadians cross over the border to Western New York to get a vaccine?
According to a report from CTV News, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson told the Canadian news outlet, "Travel for the sole purpose of obtaining a vaccination is not permissible under current travel restrictions."
U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins told 2 On Your Side he is trying to change that, he wrote a letter to the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection asking them to work with Canada to expand the definition of "essential travel" to include vaccination appointments for Canadian citizens.
But even if that were to happen, Gov. Andrew Cuomo would need to make New York State's surplus of vaccines available to Canadians. Higgins said he wrote a letter to the Governor urging him to do just that.
"In Western New York we have a situation where there are a surplus of vaccines that go unused and thus have to be destroyed," Higgins said. "I am urging the governor to allow those vaccines to be used for Canadian neighbors to travel over the border, come into the United States, into Western New York, to get vaccinated."
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday that three-quarters of Canadians must be fully vaccinated before he will consider loosening current restrictions including at the border.
As of the most current data, only 3.8 percent of the Canadian population is fully vaccinated, compared to America with 37.8 percent.
Congressman Higgins said he believes anyone who is fully vaccinated should be allowed to travel over the border despite the percent of population vaccinated.
"If you have ten percent of the population that's vaccinated in Canada, there is no reason, as it relates to public health, why that 10 percent can't travel into the United States, and those who are vaccinated in the United States into Canada, because they are protected," he continued.
Current border restrictions are set to expire this Friday, but are expected to be extended for another 30 days.
Higgins has asked the White House to work with the Canadian government to reopen the border by July.