One in five Canadians are hesitant to receive further COVID-19 boosters: survey
About one in five Canadians are hesitant to get a future COVID-19 booster shot, with nearly 60 percent of those hesitant saying they are concerned about vaccine safety, according to own research by the Ministry of Health.
Respondents reluctant to receive a COVID-19 booster dose cited safety concerns or potential side effects as their top reason for hesitation (59 percent), according to the pollsters’ report titled “COVID-19 Tracking Survey And Focus Groups On Canadians’ Views 2022-23” dated March 2023.
The findings, first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter, were based on eight focus groups and four separate nationwide online surveys. The health department paid Léger $282,441 for the study.
The report found that 75 percent of Canadians had no hesitation in getting a booster dose of the vaccine, 22 percent felt hesitant and 3 percent were unsure.
The most hesitant groups were women (27 percent), 18 to 34 year olds (30 percent) and 35 to 54 year olds (29 percent), black Canadians (31 percent), parents of children under 18 years old (31 percent) and those previously infected with COVID-19 (27 percent).
In addition to concerns about side effects, 18 percent of participants also said they thought the vaccines wouldn’t protect them from the virus, 13 percent reported having already contracted COVID-19 or had bad reactions to previous COVID-19 vaccine doses, again 13 percent said they were waiting for updated vaccines targeting new variants, and 9 percent felt they were not at high risk for COVID-19 or said they were not worried about contracting it.
The survey, which surveyed a total of 3,026 people across Canada, found that the majority of respondents had been vaccinated at least once (92 percent). Four in ten had received three doses (41%) and about one in four had received two (23%) or four doses (26%).
The report also found that 30 percent of those surveyed felt “pressured” by others to comply with public health measures.
Mental health affected
The survey found that 11 percent of Canadians said they sought mental health care at some point during the pandemic, with most receiving face-to-face support from social workers, psychologists or other professionals.
“One person in three rated their mental health as average (27%), poor (8%) or very poor (2%). Respondents under the age of 55, parents of children under the age of 18, and those infected with COVID-19 or believed to be infected were more likely than other respondents to report their mental health as “average.”
Participants noticed a decline in the mental health of those around them during the pandemic, the researchers said.
“They cited the examples of frontline and health workers, the impact of isolation and lockdowns on mental health, closing schools and the impact of returning to school on their children, along with negative coverage and an increase in violent assaults and domestic violence as examples illustrating this decline,” the report said.
Participants’ personal financial situation (22 percent) and the economy (17 percent) were cited as the most pressing concerns, followed by physical health (9 percent), the health of family/friends (9 percent), and mental health (7 percent). , uncertainty about return to normal (6 percent) and new COVID-19 variants (5 percent).
“The participants in general believed that we were out of the COVID-19 pandemic, but were still very aware of the impact of COVID on daily life and various institutions,” the report said. “They recognized that COVID has not gone away and some of its effects will be around for a long time.
