Lambton Public Health is tightening the rules for teens heading into local arenas to play sports.

Lambton’s Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Sudit Ranade, says anyone 12 and over will now have to show proof of vaccination against COVID-19 to get into local arenas and sports facilities. The provincial guidelines allow teens between 12 and 17 to go into arenas and gyms for sports, even if they’re not vaccinated. Coaches also will have to show proof of vaccination.

Ranade says this policy, which mirrors others in the region, provides and extra safe guard against the spread of COVID-19.

“If there’s enough of a concern that somebody who’s 18, playing a recreational sport in an indoor setting should be vaccinated, then that concern also applies equally in terms of the clinical risk – the public health risks for a 17 year old and 16 year old, and so forth, all the way down to 12,” says Ranade.

“As we move into the fall, and we move into more and more indoor activities, if the setting is something that is risky enough, like close contacts, then that should really apply to people who are known to spread the disease in the same way.”

Ranade adds it’s important to have the same policies as neighbouring communities, like London, who implemented the same policy earlier this month.

“We definitely want to avoid is the rink shopping phenomenon, which is the idea that people who are largely unvaccinated will choose to move to other facilities that do not have the same requirements, resulting in the potential for increased transmission events, in places that do not have those requirements.”

There will be some leeway for teens and coaches. The policy takes effect Oct. 31 but people will be able to show they have had one dose until the end of November “because there isn’t enough time for somebody who decided now to get a dose to be fully immunized by the end of the month.”