Vaccine Passport Introduced at Montreal-Trudeau Airport

Leila Dussault
Press

Adaptations, heartbreaking sections, luggage piled up, long queues: A frantic atmosphere prevails in the national and international departures section of Montreal International Airport on Saturday afternoon.

The full COVID-19 vaccine is now mandatory for passengers over the age of 12 in Canada and boarding planes, trains and ships. Passengers must show proof that they have received two doses of the Covit-19 vaccine approved by Health Canada 14 days prior to departure. In other words, you now need a vaccine passport to travel.

For Adil Ijaz and Salma Rizik, who left for Montreal and returned to Edmonton, the move seemed unfair. “Especially when you’re in the country,” Salma Risik explains. In other countries, we do not know the exchange, I understand. But here, a PCR test would have been enough, ”he believes.

The couple does not have a vaccination passport. He benefits from the one-month grace period granted by the Central Government. In fact, it is still possible to offer a negative screening test until November 29 for unvaccinated passengers.

Different reactions

Explained to some passengers who have already been vaccinated Press That this move did not change anything for them. “It’s okay, it’s okay,” said Holinus Puslengate, on his way to Quebec with his son Israel.

Two Montrealists of Ukrainian descent, Karyna and Mark Bardei, see no problem with this new policy. “For us, it’s not a big deal. We’ve been vaccinated because we want to get back to normal life,” says Karina Barde. He thinks of some of his unvaccinated friends who now want to drive a car rather than fly a plane from the United States

For Anis Kafidi, who flew to Germany on Saturday, all the steps related to the vaccine were complicated and the arrangement of his trip was a headache. “Vaccine passport, we no longer have a choice,” he observes. If we have it, we are free, and if it is not, we can not do much. For a young person, vaccination should be a personal matter. “We are, [les personnes vaccinées], We can still send it [la COVID-19]. So those who do not have a vaccine passport, they put their lives on the line, ”he believes.

Vaccination delay

Foreign nationals are also given the opportunity to board a flight until February 28 to leave Canada, even if they have not been vaccinated. However, these passengers must submit a negative molecular test for Covit-19 before boarding the aircraft. To benefit from this exception to the rule, they must also have entered Canada before October 30th.