The White House has announced they will no longer require air travellers to be vaccinated as of May 11, though the mandate will still be in place for non-citizens at US land crossings.
"While I believe that these vaccine mandates had a tremendous beneficial impact, we are now at a point where we think that it makes a lot of sense to pull these requirements down," White House COVID-19 co-ordinator Dr. Ashish Jha told The Associated Press on Monday.
The vaccine mandate issue has been deeply polarizing, with complaints restrictions were unnecessary and hurting the economy.
Democratic Rep. Brian Higgins, who represents Buffalo and Niagara Falls, NY, and has been vocal about the restrictions during the pandemic, called the announced dropping of the mandates as "long overdue" and hopes the move will spur more cross-border travel between the U.S. and Canada.
The vaccine mandate "kept families apart and impeded economic recovery," Higgins said in a statement.
"This last lifting of pandemic restrictions is certainly welcome news and critically important as we seek opportunities to encourage a robust cross-border exchange that delivers shared prosperity."
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