The Canadian government announced on Monday that on August 9 it will reopen its borders for fully vaccinated Americans and on September 7 it will do the same for immunized people from the rest of the world.

Canada’s borders have been closed to non-essential travel since March 18, 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

To enter the country, travelers must have received two doses of a vaccine authorized by Health Canada at least 14 days before and show no symptoms.

“Significant border changes will take effect August 9 to allow fully immunized Americans and permanent residents living in the United States to enter Canada for non-essential reasons,” said Canada’s Minister of Health, Patty Hajduduring a press conference.

For now, United States did not engage in a reciprocal opening. “We continue to review our travel restrictions,” the spokeswoman said. White House, Jen Psakiwho added that they were following the advice of their “own medical experts”.

Pressed in recent weeks by the tourism sector to lift restrictions in a country where vaccination is well advanced, the government of Justin Trudeau also announced a full opening for the month of September.

The opening of the Canada-U.S. border scheduled for August 9 will be followed by the “reopening of our border to fully immunized travelers from any country as long as they meet the entry requirements,” it said. he announced on his side. Dominique LeBlancminister of Intergovernmental Affairs.

According to government figures released on Monday, 75% of Canadian residents have already received their first dose and one in two are fully immune.