He's had 3 COVID-19 shots. So why does he have to isolate before seeing his Canadian grandkids?
CBC
The first chance Sergio Capozzi had to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in Brazil, he took it.
The 75-year-old is in remission from brain cancer and cares for his wife Elena Capozzi, 70, who was diagnosed with breast cancer last December. So, earlier this year he rolled up his sleeve for what was available in one of the hardest hit countries in the world — two shots of China's Sinovac and then a booster shot of Pfizer.
All-in-all, Capozzi said he feels well protected against COVID-19 — he also recovered from a mild case of COVID-19 in April — and he's eager to visit his two children and grandchildren in Toronto for the first time since before the pandemic began.
But the Canadian government doesn't see it that way.
Unlike the World Health Organization (WHO), Health Canada hasn't approved Sinovac. That means Capozzi is technically considered unvaccinated and upon arriving at Toronto's Pearson Airport on Nov. 14, will have to quarantine for 14 days before he can see his family.
"It's not reasonable at all," Capozzi told CBC News over Zoom last week, Elena sitting next to him, sharing a pair of headphones.
He will also be separated from Elena for the first time in at least 10 years.
They live in the small coastal city of Caraguatatuba, 175 kilometres from Sao Paulo, and didn't have any choice in the type of vaccine they received. By chance, Elena got two shots of AstraZeneca and is therefore allowed to enter Canada and not quarantine as long as she tests negative for COVID-19.
"I'm hoping they will change ideas in Canada in accepting his vaccination," said Elena, now also in remission from her cancer. "We need to go. It's a long time for me not to see children or grandchildren."
Their daughter Liv Capozzi, a Toronto resident, described the situation as "cruel," cringing at the idea of dropping off food for her father outside the door of a rented apartment without seeing or hugging him.
She said she also worries about Capozzi's mental health. He'll be alone inside for two weeks — a stark contrast to his life in Brazil where he lives near the ocean and spends every day with Elena.
"A 75-year-old man who's who had to support my mom through cancer, who's had COVID himself, who is fully vaccinated, is going to be made to quarantine for two weeks and not see his grandchildren," Liv said.
"He's probably the most protected of all of us."
The family is hopeful Health Canada will accept WHO-approved vaccines like the U.S. did earlier this month, "and stop discriminating," said Liv. But so far the agency hasn't shown any signs of budging.
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