Lambton's medical officer of health is satisfied with the current local COVID vaccination rate among those 12 to 17 years old.
Dr. Sudit Ranade made the comments during a media briefing on Wednesday afternoon.
So far, 62 per cent of youth in that age range have received one dose of vaccine, while 45 per cent are fully vaccinated.
He said schools should look as normal as possible until there's evidence that greater coverage or different interventions are needed.
"Obviously, we want as high of coverage as we can get so more would be better," said Dr. Ranade. "I'm not unhappy with the numbers that we have now, especially when you look at the low risk of hospitalization and death among that age group anyway. So, I think they're doing the right thing by protecting themselves. In terms of tying that number to some difference on how schools should operate, I don't think there's a need to do that. Schools can be just fine with the coverage rates that we have."
Dr. Ranade was asked whether teachers should be required to vaccinate against COVID.
The province said Wednesday that they wouldn't make the practice mandatory.
"We have policies in place where we have records on whether or not children, for example, have the measles mumps and rubella vaccine. That is not a requirement that we place on school board staff. It's important to note that if we're going to make these policies that are based solely on COVID, we need to look at the other vaccine preventable diseases and what our policies are on those as well."
Under the province's revised health and safety measures, high-contact sports like basketball and hockey will now be allowed, even outside the students’ cohorts.
