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As of Monday (December 20), those aged 12 to 17 years old will now have to show proof of their vaccination status to participate in organized sports at recreational facilities.
This new mandate was a part of many new measures announced on Dec 10, 2021, by Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health.
Dr. Kit Young Hoon, Medical Officer of Health for the Northwestern Health Unit commented saying the new policy is there to protect all athletes involved in the sport.
“A number of reasons it makes sense are the vaccines are proven to be effective in preventing infection and severe disease in that aged population,” said Young Hoon.
“Contact sports and team sports are a high-risk activity, people are coming within six feet of each other, they are often un-masked and breathing heavily. It is a high-risk situation where a spread of COVID-19 could occur quite quickly if there’s a case,” added Young Hoon.
As of December 16, 2021, the NWHU is reporting a 98.1 vaccine rate within those 12 and older receiving their first dose, while 93.1 per cent are fully vaccinated.
One sport association in Northwestern Ontario implemented their own proof of vaccination requirements for athletes before the December 10 announcement.
On November 27, 2021, Hockey Northwestern Ontario mandated its own vaccine policy.
It stated that all players born in 2009 (12+) or earlier, team officials, game officials, association officials, HNO officials, and volunteers need to be fully vaccinated to participate in HNO programming, which includes hockey in Kenora, Dryden, and the surrounding communities.
Prior to the new mandate, those aged 12 to 17 were exempt from providing vaccination status to participate in organized sports as per Ontario’s September 1, 2021 announcement.
The announcement stated that as of September 22, 2021, Ontarians needed to be fully vaccinated and provide their proof of vaccination to access certain public settings and facilities, which included recreational facilities with the exception of youth recreational sports.