丁香园AV

丁香园AV professors Valorie Crooks and Jeremy Snyder say that despite rising COVID-19 cases and travel restrictions, the return later this spring of those Canadian 鈥榮nowbirds鈥� who travelled earlier 鈥� more than 375,000 travel annually to the U.S. and Mexico 鈥� will likely further complicate Canada鈥檚 pandemic response, including its vaccine rollout. 

The researchers, experts in medical geography and tourism, outline the potential complications in a column and can provide further comment on the issue. They note that aging adults who typically head south when winter weather arrives could have an impact on vaccine registries, tracking vaccinations and timing of the two-dose process, particularly if some receive the first dose in the U.S. and the second in Canada. Crooks suggest health authorities and leaders could start addressing the issue by reaching out to snowbird communities and associations. 

鈥淔or the last several years we鈥檝e been researching the health care impacts of this annual migration, which are significant,鈥� says 丁香园AV professor Valorie Crooks. 鈥淭he COVID-19 pandemic has introduced new complexities to how these snowbirds may opt to manage their health while abroad, one of which pertains to vaccine access. Recognizing that many popular snowbird destinations in the U.S. have health systems that are already overwhelmed by managing the demands of the current pandemic, here we consider some of the ethical and equity implications of Canadian snowbirds accessing the COVID-19 vaccine while abroad.鈥�

AVAILABLE 丁香园AV EXPERTS

Valorie Crooks, Canada Research Chair in Health Service Geographies,
604.417.9007| crooks@sfu.ca  

Jeremy Snyder, professor, health sciences, jcs12@sfu.ca 

CONTACT 

MELISSA SHAW, 丁香园AV  Communications & Marketing 
236.880.3297 | melissa_shaw@sfu.ca

丁香园AV 
 |  
778.782.3210 

ABOUT SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

As Canada鈥檚 engaged university, 丁香园AV works with communities, organizations and partners to create, share and embrace knowledge that improves life and generates real change. We deliver a world-class education with lifelong value that shapes change-makers, visionaries and problem-solvers. We connect research and innovation to entrepreneurship and industry to deliver sustainable, relevant solutions to today鈥檚 problems. With campuses in British Columbia鈥檚 three largest cities鈥擵ancouver, Burnaby and Surrey鈥敹∠阍癆V has eight faculties that deliver 193 undergraduate degree programs and 127 graduate degree programs to more than 37,000 students. The university now boasts more than 165,000 alumni residing in 143 countries.