A significant uptick in Covid 19 vaccinations in Canada has prompted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to suggest that his country’s long-sealed border with the United States might open again as early as next month.

According to the latest data, more Canadians than U.S. citizens are now fully vaccinated. This represents a major reversal, as Canada had suffered from months of vaccine shipping and production delays.

More than 49 percent of Canadians were fully vaccinated as of July 17, according to the Our World in Data project. Seventy percent have had at least one shot. In the U.S., 48 percent are fully vaccinated but only 55.5 percent have gotten at least one dose.

In a call with provincial leaders, Trudeau said fully vaccinated U.S. citizens and permanent residents might be able to enter the country for “nonessential travel,” which includes business groups, as of mid-August. If virus cases continued to wane in the country, fully vaccinated travelers from elsewhere in the world could begin arriving in Canada by early September, he said.

The latest data show 55.7 percent of European Union residents have gotten at least one dose of vaccine; its fully vaccinated rate lags at below 43 percent. Only about 1 percent of people in low-income countries are even partially vaccinated, according to Our World in Data.

Canada’s northern Yukon and Northwest Territories have the country’s highest share of fully vaccinated residents, at over 59 percent. Lowest are two Atlantic provinces, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island, at about 30 percent each, reported Canada’s public health agency.

advertisement