OTTAWA, ON, June 1, 2021 /CNW/ - 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.
OTTAWA, ON, June 1, 2021 /CNW/ - 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."
METHODOLOGY
The survey was conducted with 2,000 Canadian adults from May 25-30, 2021. A random sample of panelists were invited to complete the survey from a set of partner panels based on the Lucid exchange platform. These partners are typically double opt-in survey panels, blended to manage out potential skews in the data from a single source. The margin of error for a comparable probability-based random sample of the same size is +/- 2.1%, 19 times out of 20. The data were weighted according to census data to ensure that the sample matched Canada's population according to age, gender, educational attainment, and region. Totals may not add up to 100 due to rounding.
ABOUT FASTER TOGETHER
Overcoming vaccine hesitancy to speed the end of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.
This is a voluntary effort of a wide variety of people and organizations working together to promote COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and help speed a recovery from this pandemic. Creative services have been donated by spark*advocacy (www.sparkadvocacy.ca) and research support provided by Abacus Data. Bruce Anderson (spark*advocacy and Abacus) along with Hassan Yussuff, President of the Canadian Labour Congress have been convening a group effort. The current list of participants can be found on our website and is expanding regularly: www.fastertogether.ca
LIST OF PARTNERS
19 To Zero |
Abacus Data |
ACTRA National |
Airbnb |
Air Canada |
Atlantic Canada Airports Association |
Alan Doyle |
Allan Hawco |
Amalgamated Transit Union |
Ambermac Media (Amber MacArthur) |
American Federation of Musicians |
Baffin Iron Mines |
Banff & Lake Louise Hospitality Association |
BC Maritime Employers Association |
BC Council of Forest Industries |
BC Pharmacy Association |
Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport |
BIOTECanada |
Boilermakers International |
Boston Consulting Group |
Brandon University |
Brantford-Brant Chamber of Commerce |
Brescia University College |
Business Council of Canada |
Caisse de Depots |
Canada Life |
Canada Life & Health Insurance Association |
Canada's Building Trades Unions |
Canadian Actors' Equity Association |
Canadian Airports Council |
Canadian Association of Amusement Operators |
Canadian Association of Fairs and Exhibitions |
Canadian Bankers Association |
Canadian Chamber of Commerce |
Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions |
Canadian Independent Music Association |
Canadian Labour Congress |
Canadian Live Music Association |
Canadian Media Producers Association |
Canadian Real Estate Association |
Canadian Ski Council |
Canadian Union of Public Employees |
Canadian Urban Transit Association |
Cape Breton Regional Chamber of Commerce |
Capilano University |
Cenovus Energy Inc |
Charlottetown Airport Authority |
Choice Hotels Canada |
Cineplex |
Colleges & Institutes Canada |
Council of Canadian Innovators |
Creative BC |
Crop Life |
Cynthia Dale |
Deer Lake Airport Authority |
Directors Guild of Canada |
École de technologie supérieure |
Endless Events Group |
Event Staff Canada |
FETCO |
Federation of Canadian Municipalities |
Fredericton International Airport Authority |
Food, Health & Consumer Products Canada |
Forrest Products Association of Canada |
Fredericton International Airport |
Gander Airport Authority |
Global Citizen |
Greater Moncton International Airport Authority |
Halifax International Airport Authority |
Hotel Association of Canada |
Insurance Bureau of Canada |
IATSE |
Indigeno Travel |
Intl Brotherhood of Boilermakers |
Intl Brotherhood of Electrical Workers |
Intl Union of Operating Engineers |
Int'l Assn of Machinists & Aerospace Workers |
Jane & Co |
Janet Annesley |
King's University College at Western University |
Laborers' Intl Union of North America |
Langley Chamber of Commerce |
MacEwan University |
Manulife |
Maple Leaf Foods |
Maple Leaf Sports/Ent |
Maple | Maskawâtik |
Marriott International |
Mark Critch |
Memorial University |
Milton Chamber of Commerce |
Mining Association of Canada |
Motion Picture Association of Canada |
Motor Coach Canada |
Mount Royal University |
Mount Saint Vincent University |
Movie Theatre Association of Canada |
Music Canada |
National Airlines Council of Canada |
National Newswatch |
Newmarket Chamber of Commerce |
OCAD University |
Ontario Motor Coach Association |
Ontario Public Service Employees |
Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG) |
Ottawa International Airport Authority |
Pacific National Exhibition |
Parksville & District Chamber of Commerce |
Peter Mansbridge |
Ponoka and District Chamber of Commerce |
Port Hope & District Chamber of Commerce |
Port Saint John |
Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada |
Qualicum Beach Chamber of Commerce |
Realstar Hospitality |
Regina Exhibition Association Ltd |
Retail Council of Canada |
Rob Russo |
Saa Dene Group of Companies |
Saint John Airport |
Sault Ste Marie Airport Development Corp |
ScienceUpFirst |
Service Employees International Union |
Simon Fraser University |
Sirius XM Canada |
Sooke Region Chamber of Commerce |
spark*advocacy |
St. John's International Airport Authority |
Stratford Festival |
Students' Association of MacEwan University (SAMU) |
Sun Life |
Suncor |
Surrey Board of Trade |
Sussex & District Chamber of Commerce |
Teamsters Canada |
Teck Resources |
Telus |
TikTok Canada |
Timmins Chamber of Commerce |
Toronto & York Region Labour Council |
Toronto International Film Festival |
Tourism Industry Association of Canada |
Tourism Industry Association of AB |
Tourism Industry Association of BC |
Town of Banff |
TransLink |
Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce |
Trinity Western University |
Tumbler Ridge Chamber of Commerce |
Unifor |
United Food and Commercial Workers |
United Steel Workers |
Universal Music Canada |
Universities Canada |
University of the Fraser Valley |
University of Guelph |
University of Saskatchewan |
University of St. Michael's College |
Victoria Airport Authority |
Vista Projects |
WestJet |
Wilfrid Laurier University |
Winnipeg Airports Authority |
Yarmouth & Area Chamber of Commerce |
York University |
SOURCE Faster Together
Hassan Yussuff, Co-Chair, Canadian Labour Congress, [email protected], 613.851.7881; Bruce Anderson, Co-Chair, Abacus Data / spark*advocacy, [email protected], www.sparkadvocacy.ca, 613.882.0929
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