Vaccination requirement for P.E.I. kids in sport could change

The P.E.I. government is open to the idea of requiring that youth aged 12 to 18 participating in sports be fully vaccinated.

Under P.E.I. VaxPass rules, coaching staff and people attending games must be vaccinated, but young athletes do not.

Premier Dennis King said the decision for the exemption was made to give as many youth as possible the opportunity to participate.

"There are many kids in this age bracket who don't have a choice in terms of getting a vaccine," said King at the province's pandemic briefing Tuesday.

"Their parents or guardians, if they don't have it, have decided they don't want them to have it for a variety of reasons, and I feel they are unfairly impacted in that regard. We are trying to keep some kind of normalcy for those kids as well."

Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison said there are physical and mental health benefits for youth participating in these activities.

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The policy remains under review, said King, and officials are consulting with other provinces that do require young athletes to be vaccinated.

If a change is made, said Morrison, parents would be given some advance notice.

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