Toronto District School Board says students 12 and older must be vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to play competitive winter sports such as basketball, hockey and swimming.
In a statement Friday, the board said the decision is directed toward winter sports that involve “competition between schools, mixing of students and travel to other TDSB schools and/or external venues.”
The board said the decision is consistent with Toronto Public Health’s (TPH) messaging and recommendations. Students who wish to participate must update proof of their full vaccination to the Service Now APP. For students who may not be able to be vaccinated, the TDSB said it will work with TPH to develop a plan.
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The TDSB also noted many venues and locations where these sports are played already have vaccination requirements in place.
“Sports and other activities are important to students’ mental and physical health and overall school experience and TDSB staff have been working over the past several weeks to safely re-introduce some school sports and teams,” the board went on to say.
With the recent approval of the COVID-19 vaccine shot for children aged five to 11, the TDSB said it will again work with TPH on any “additional vaccination requirements for this age group as necessary.”
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