DETROIT (AP) – The Canadian government has rejected a plan for residents of Ontario to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in a border tunnel with the United States, a Canadian mayor said Thursday.
A white stripe was painted inside the Detroit-Windsor tunnel under the Detroit River. Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens has proposed that Canadians line up at the border so that health workers can inject them.
“It’s not about sending a man to the moon. We are using the infrastructure to achieve a common goal, ”Dilkens told the Detroit Free Press. “It is a sensible and reasonable alternative to sending vaccines to the landfill.”
Vehicle traffic is prohibited across the border for the duration of the pandemic, with the exception of commercial trucks and workers considered essential. Dilkens said a partnership with the state of Michigan, which has excess vaccinations, would reduce wait times for Canadians who need the second dose.
But the Canada Border Services Agency said the clinic in the tunnel would disrupt traffic and have “significant safety consequences.”
On the other hand, the Canadian Public Health Agency said there would be problems if the person administering the injection stretched his arm above the border line.
“You cannot import a vaccine into Canadian space without the express consent” of the Department of Health, said Kathy Thompson, executive vice president of the agency.
More than half a million COVID-19 vaccines in Michigan will expire in early August, state Department of Health spokesperson Lynn Sutfin said.
The plan “is dead,” Dilkens said. “Our government will not allow it.”
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