US to accept mixed vaccine doses from int’l travellers

The US Centers 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.

The CDC said last week that it would accept any vaccine authorized for use by US regulators or the World Health Organization. “While CDC has not recommended mixing types of vaccine in a primary series, we recognize 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 Friday the new vaccine requirements for foreign nationals travelling to the US will begin Nov. 8 for visitors crossing at land borders as well as international air travellers.

Representative Brian Higgins, a New York Democrat, on Friday asked the CDC if it would accept the mixed vaccine doses noting “nearly four million Canadians have received mixed doses of the available mRNA Covid-19 vaccines – this includes the AstraZeneca vaccine.”