Business and political leaders from our region said the closure of the border to all but essential traffic is hurting businesses and communities in the North Country.
The past year has also been incredibly difficult for families separated by the border. Tracy Simmons from Morrisonville, New York was unable to care for her elderly mother in Quebec when she became gravely ill.
New York Assemblyman Billy Jones is asking New York State’s Department of Health to, like a handful of other states, offer to give COVID shots to Canadians to help get their vaccination numbers up, staring with essential workers, and then including Canadians who own property in the state, or have close family living on this side of the border.
Jones, and the Chamber have reached out to both federal, and state leaders, asking for help getting the state health department to OK giving vaccines to Canadians, in the hopes it will help convince Ottawa to move ahead and get the border reopened. Canada has given its residents, with a doctor’s order, permission to cross the border to get vaccinated. So far, there’s been no response from the New York State Department of Health whether it would consider vaccinating Canadians.