A 16-year-old Grade 10 student at St. Patrick's High School is believed to be the youngest person in Lambton County to be vaccinated for COVID-19.
Sarnia resident Oscar Allen said he was offered the shot after being hired as a dining room attendant and infection control specialist at Landmark Village two weeks ago.
Oscar Allen (right) stands outside Sarnia's Landmark Village with Manager Ankush Sharma (left).
"I will work as a server some days, but also on other days I go from top to bottom and disinfect the whole building," said Allen. "They asked me if I wanted to get a vaccine and it's only voluntary because of my age, and I took the chance."
Allen said he was vaccinated Wednesday.
"The nurse practitioner giving me the vaccine told me that on their systems, they believe that they have not had anyone under the age of 18 get the vaccine yet."
Allen said he feels good about his decision.
"I'd like to keep all of my family, and friends, and everyone I work with safe. The only side effect I've had is my arm is pretty sore and it kind of makes you knocked out, for a little bit after, like kind of tired really."
While recognizing other teens will have to wait until they're eligible for a vaccine, Allen is hoping others consider doing the same.
"Some of my friends are scared of needles so they don't really want to, but others want to keep their family safe and want to be safe themselves, so they want the vaccines, but of course, everyone has different opinions."
Allen said his family has had a couple COVID scares, which influenced his decision.
"We've had to quarantine ourselves like six times because of St. Pat's getting a bunch of COVID cases, but no one has actually came down with COVID in my family."
Allen said he's currently taking a healthcare course at St. Pat's where he's learning about nursing and becoming a personal support worker.
He said he's interested in the field because he's really into extreme sports and has been to the hospital a couple of time for broken bones.