This text is taken from our newsletter “Le Courrier du coronavirus” of June 6, 2022. Click here to subscribe.
Ottawa renewed for another month its prohibition air travel for unvaccinated Canadians. But what justifies this measure, when more and more countries are throwing ballast at the borders?
The wording of the measure renewed last week states that “the entry into Canada of persons who have recently traveled to a foreign country could facilitate the introduction or spread in Canada of COVID-19 or new variants of the virus which causes COVID-19”.
The pandemic is not over, and “people are dying every day in hospitals,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. “Our responsibility is to keep everyone safe and that’s done by following the science. »
For the specialist in health policy at the University of Ottawa Patrick Fafard, the government plays especially cautious, because the evidence concerning the effect of vaccines against the spread of the virus “is mixed”.
Vaccines provide moderate protection against the risk of contracting the disease, although they remain effective against severe symptoms. “The reading of the risks is different at the provincial level and in Ottawa,” he notes, since Quebec ended the health emergency almost the same day.
“We want to avoid signaling to the population that the pandemic is over. There, that would risk influencing the behavior of people”, according to him.
When it introduced the measure last December, the government thought that banning air travel for the unvaccinated would give them all the more reason to reach out. “It’s not entirely clear when you look at the numbers. That does not seem to be a good reason for many to get vaccinated, ”says Mr. Fafard, however.
Political reasons therefore largely explain this decision. There is a desire to distinguish itself from the Conservative Party, which wants to end all vaccination obligations.
“The people most affected are a minority of unvaccinated Canadians. Would these people vote for the Liberal Party? Their analysis would say no,” notes the expert. “The Liberal Party of Canada positions itself on the side of the cautious. »
Excessive caution, however, could lead to sin. Tour operators are stamping their feet, claiming that still-in-force random checks and tests are causing long queues at airports, even for vaccinated people.