More than 10% of Canadians have not disclosed true vaccine status at poll: Federal memo

According to an internal memo from the Privy Council Office, more than 10 percent of Canadians did not disclose their actual vaccination status when federal pollsters asked them if they had received three doses of COVID injections.

The March 2022 memo, obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter through an information access request, found that while 68 percent of Canadians claimed to have received the injections at the time, the percentage reported by Health Canada was 55 percent.

“There are a few possible reasons for the discrepancy between the study results and official booster update figures,” said the memo, titled “Considerations on the Discrepancy Between Booster Dose Uptake.”

Researchers cited “social desirability” as one of the possibilities “where respondents tend to answer questions in a way that is viewed favorably by others.”

The federal poll was conducted at a time when individuals who failed to take the COVID shots were denied access to public services and threatened with job loss.

“Some respondents may count the intention to get vaccinated or having an appointment as being vaccinated,” researchers wrote.

“The most institutionally distrustful are less likely to participate in surveys and are least vaccinated.”

The Privy Council noted a “similar trend” in how Canadians reported their vaccination status a year ahead of the March 2022 findings.

Pollsters said they observed a similar trend during the initial vaccine rollout in spring 2021 “with the percentage of respondents reporting having received a vaccine being about 20 points too high,” the memo said.

“Similarly, the same pattern emerged in the summer of 2021, when the percentage of respondents who said they had received two doses was 10 points too high.”

In other research published March 12, 2021, the Privy Council found that Canadians were sharply divided over vaccine mandates imposed by governments.

About 22 percent were “lukewarm about getting the Covid-19 vaccine,” while 11 percent expressed “very strong distrust of all institutions,” including Health Canada, according to the study titled “Psychographic Segmentation Of Canadians About Covid-19,” obtained by Blacklock’s reporter.

Another 29 percent said “government restrictions haven’t gone far enough,” while 21 percent were “personally afraid of getting the virus.”