HOULTON, Maine – The New Brunswick government tightened border restrictions last week, so that even family members of Canadian citizens can no longer enter the province through border crossings in Maine.
The new restrictions, imposed on January 8 and most recently updated on February 27, occurred when the entire province entered an “orange” public health alert stage – the next highest level in a four-phase system – due to an increase in COVID-19 cases and concerns about the potential for more infectious variants of COVID-19 in the country. The change affects not only American citizens, but Canadians who live in other parts of Canada and want to enter New Brunswick.
Until January, family members and people in romantic relationships could cross the border with Canada, as long as they went through a quarantine period of 14 days after entry.
Traveling to New Brunswick will now be permitted only for work, medical and essential supplies for First Nations communities, according to a notice issued by the provincial government.
“Under the new restrictions, Canadian residents who own properties in the province or who have family members [parents, children, siblings, grandchildren, grandparents, significant other] residing in New Brunswick will no longer be allowed to enter the province, ”said the notice. In addition, exceptions may be made for family travel from the United States or Canada, but only in the case of attending a funeral.
The orange level alert is expected to fall back to yellow as of March 7, leading to a possible easing of restrictions.
More good news comes from Canada’s announcement on Friday approving the Johnson and Johnson single injection vaccine, totaling four vaccines approved in the country. Canada has already approved vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca.
The Canadian federal government has not yet said how many doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine the province will receive, but that the province was scheduled to receive 5 percent of the total doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine and more would be delivered next week, Alysha Elliott, spokesman for the New Brunswick Department of Health said on Friday.
“We will receive 10,500 AstraZeneca vaccines at the end of next week,” she said. “With the addition of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, we are studying a new vaccine plan.”
Elliott said New Brunswick Prime Minister Blaine Higgs would update the vaccine situation next week. As of February 27, less than 3% of New Brunswick’s population had been vaccinated.
March 21 will mark a year since the US-Canada border was closed for travel due to the pandemic. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tightened federal restrictions on entry to the border earlier this year, with concerns about more infectious variants, and U.S. President Joe Biden also called for updated public health measures along the land border. .
Although no specific reopening date has been announced by any of the countries, the reduction in vaccination campaign cases may lead to a reopening plan soon on the horizon. Wilson Center, an influential think tank in Washington, DC, plans to present its recommendations for reopening in March. On March 2, the center launched a new project to discuss policy recommendations on all aspects of US cooperation with Canada and also with Mexico.