The city adjusts the transition period to the new vaccination rule for adolescent athletes

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The city of Windsor has added a transition period to the rule announced Monday that requires anyone 12 years and older to provide proof of double vaccination to enter an arena or other recreational facility.

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The rule was supposed to go into effect on Wednesday, with the intention of clarifying a potentially confusing detail in Ontario’s new vaccination regulation, which says that 12 to 17-year-olds will not need to show proof to enter a recreational facility if they are participating in an organized sport. , but that anyone 12 years of age or older must show proof if attending as a spectator. The City of Windsor rule requires that all persons over the age of 12, athletes or spectators, be fully vaccinated.

But by Tuesday, it became clear that the short notice of the new city rule, coupled with the fact that there is a four-week wait between the first and second doses, could mean that some young athletes would be excluded from the city ​​facilities for weeks while they wait for the second shot.

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“We appreciate that brief notice has been provided to parents, coaches and teams to implement this policy and I now propose to amend Monday’s motion to allow for a transition period,” Mayor Drew Dilkens said in a Tuesday press release.

The new rule, which goes into effect Wednesday, allows athletes ages 12 to 17 to enter city facilities as long as they have a dose. Beginning November 1, full vaccination will be required.

The change was approved by the council in an email vote Tuesday afternoon.

The change “will help ensure that children continue to be able to participate in the short term and will help us boost local vaccination rates in the long term,” the mayor said. He also said that Ontario’s regulation that requires viewers 12 and older to be fully vaccinated still applies.

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More than 70 percent of 12 to 17-year-olds receive a dose, but less than 60 percent are fully vaccinated, according to data from the Windsor Essex County Health Unit. “Receiving two doses remains the best way to protect against the spread of COVID-19, illness and further disruption to our local school system,” Dilkens said.

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