The number of Canadians willing to be vaccinated is on the rise, and the number of people hesitant or refusing to take a Covid-19 vaccine is at a new low.
Abacus has been providing data on vaccine opinions to a volunteer Task Group of organizations and individuals under the banner “Faster Together”, reminding people that choosing to be vaccinated can bring us all back together again, more quickly. Bruce Anderson, Chairman of Abacus and Hassan Yussuff, President of the Canadian Labour Congress, co-chair the Task Group. Current members and how to join this coalition are appended.
The latest data (collected through 2000 interviews nationwide) show that the number of people who’ve already had a shot or who will take one as soon as it is available to them now stands at 79%, up from 63% only a month ago.
A total of just 21% show some measure of hesitancy, most of whom indicate they can be persuaded to be vaccinated. Just 7% say they will never take a COVID19 shot.
The major factors influencing hesitancy are concern that the long-term impacts of the vaccines may not be known and worries about the risk of blood clots. The proportion of the hesitant who are indicating blood clot concerns is down slightly over recent weeks.
Today, 89% say they would be comfortable taking the Pfizer vaccine, 86% for Moderna, 48% for Johnson and Johnson and 36% for Astra Zeneca.
Hesitancy levels are not equal across different parts of the population. Those exhibiting more hesitancy than average include Albertans, men under 45, those with less formal education. Based on today’s numbers a low end scenario would see 79% of Canadians vaccinated, and a high end scenario would see 93% taking the shot.
Peer influence is contributing to rising acceptance of vaccines. Three out of four (76%) people say that if friends or family asked for advice, they would encourage them to take the shot as soon as possible, while only 6% say they would tell them to refuse.
No doubt contributing to this positive peer to peer communication is the fact that for 95% of those who have already had a shot, side effects were not very challenging. The majority (71%) say they had hardly any or no side effects, while another 24% said they were unpleasant but passed quickly.
According to Bruce Anderson: “Vaccine hesitancy is down, community immunity enthusiasm is up. Canadians are hearing from others about only light side effects, and about the benefits of getting to community immunity quickly and as a result are going out and getting their COVID-19 vaccines when offered to them. Barring any unforeseen problems, and with the flow of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in the weeks ahead, we may see that 14% who remain a bit hesitant, come down further.” According to Hassan Yussuff: “It’s great to see so much momentum across the country for people to get vaccinated – and to see so many different kinds of groups coming together to make our progress faster.”
SOURCE Faster Together