This week, I led a letter, along with 56 of my colleagues, to President Biden asking him to end the COVID-19 U.S.-Canada cross-border vaccination mandate for commercial truck drivers. Canada’s vaccination and testing requirements expired earlier this month, but the U.S. requirements are still in effect with no indication of removal. Several essential commodities are imported into the U.S. from Canada, and these regulations put more strain on our supply chain by hindering the trucking industry’s ability to move these essential goods quickly.
Also this week, I joined several of my colleagues in sending a letter to President Biden asking him to clarify why Health and Human Services Secretary Becerra extended the COVID-19 pandemic public health emergency on October 13 when President Biden himself declared the pandemic was over on an interview September 19.
At this point in time, there is hardly any legitimate reason for cross-border vaccination requirements to persist for our nation’s truckers or for us to still be considered in the midst of a “public health emergency.” We are two and a half years removed from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and one and a half years removed from civilian access to COVID-19 vaccines, not to mention over a year removed from available booster shots. COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths have steadily declined for months. It is far past time we join Canada and the rest of the world in fully reopening our economy.
