A new report is suggesting that travelers from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria, which have not been able to stop the spread of the polio viruses, be denied entry to other countries like Canada – unless they can provide proof of being vaccinated. 
The report comes from the Independent Monitoring Board, which was set up to find weaknesses in the current polio eradication program.
According to the report, “History may look back on 2012 as the beginning of the end for the polio virus.”
The report goes on to say that allowing travelers from countries like the aforementioned ones that still have issues with polio to enter other countries can result in setbacks for the eradication program.
“Besides their human and financial costs, outbreaks are an unhelpful and demoralizing distraction to the pursuit of global eradication. They need to be prevented.”
Visiting Canada
Visiting Canada could mean that you require a medical examination depending on the reason you are visiting, the country you are from and the length of your stay.
These medical exams are to protect Canadian citizens’ health and safety while also preventing someone from placing an excessive demand on the healthcare system.
Someone can be denied entry to Canada for medical reasons, including not having the right vaccinations. Currently, the Centers for Disease Control website recommends travelers to Canada obtain their poliovirus vaccine along with the other routine vaccines and the vaccine against Hepatitis B.
What do you think? Should those who do not have proof of the required polio vaccines be denied entry to Canada?
President & CEO
Michael Niren
Mr. Niren is CEO of VisaPlace LLC and the President and Managing Partner of VisaPlace Legal Canada, an immigration law firm based in Toronto, and VisaPlace Legal US a law firm registered in The District of Columbia, USA. Mr. Niren is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Canadian Bar Association’s Citizenship and Immigration Section, American Lawyers Association, and an Associate Member of the American Bar Association.
