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US will accept mixed coronavirus vaccines for international travellers
- The decision is good news for visitors from Canada and other countries, as the US prepares to relax entry requirements on November 8
- US health officials have not recommended mixing different Covid-19 vaccines, though the practice is common elsewhere
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The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said late on Friday that it will accept mixed-dose coronavirus vaccines from international travellers, a boost to travellers from Canada and other places.
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The CDC said last week that it would accept any vaccine authorised for use by US regulators or the World Health Organization.
“While CDC has not recommended mixing types of vaccine in a primary series, we recognise that this is increasingly common in other countries so should be accepted for the interpretation of vaccine records,” a CDC spokeswoman said.
The White House said on Friday the new vaccine requirements for foreign nationals travelling to the United States will begin November 8 for visitors crossing at land borders as well as international air travellers.
Congressman Brian Higgins, a New York Democrat representing a district along the Canadian border, had on Friday asked the CDC if it would accept the mixed vaccine doses noting “nearly 4 million Canadians, equivalent to 10 per cent of their fully vaccinated population, have received mixed doses of the available mRNA Covid-19 vaccines – this includes the AstraZeneca vaccine”.
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