Is Canada’s hotel quarantine mandatory if you’ve gotten both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine?

Posted April 13, 2021 9:49 am.

Last Updated April 13, 2021 9:53 am.

NEWS 1130 is working hard to get you the information you need about the COVID-19 pandemic.

When you have questions, NEWS 1130 Gets Answers.

Question:

Two of our listeners — Sue and Kawal — want to know if you still need to quarantine in a hotel after travelling internationally, even if you have received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Answer:

While you may be hoping to skip the hotel quarantine after getting both doses, the answer — at least at the moment — is yes, you do still need to spend up to three days in a government-designated hotel while you await the results of your COVID-19 test.

“If you have received the #Covid19 vaccine and are flying back to Canada: The mandatory hotel quarantine requirement still applies,” the federal government confirms in a tweet from March.

Attention! If you have received the #Covid19 vaccine and are flying back to Canada:

The mandatory hotel quarantine requirement still applies.

For more information on quarantine measures in Canada, follow @GovCanHealth https://t.co/cOVoLPRdCF  #Snowbirds pic.twitter.com/zJCQKmbG8N

— Travel.gc.ca (@TravelGoC) March 31, 2021

Canadians continue to be asked to avoid all non-essential travel at this time.

In general, those who have received a COVID-19 shot are still expected to abide by most rules and restrictions, including mask wearing and physical distancing.

But of course, things can change in months ahead, as the number of people vaccinated against the virus grows.

In the U.S., the CDC updated its guidance in April, giving the green light to fully vaccinated Americans to travel domestically — with no quarantine requirement.

However, 15 per cent of Americans had received both shots of a COVID vaccine when that update was made. Only about two per cent of Canadians had been given two doses at that time.