ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Skip to main content

Vaccine hesitancy highest in Alberta, racialized groups at rollout's start: survey

Share
TORONTO -

A national survey suggests the vast majority of Canadians planned to get vaccinated against COVID-19 when the country's rollout began, but intentions were lower among certain demographics, including residents of Alberta and racialized communities.

The survey, led by researchers at Toronto's St. Michael's Hospital, was published online Tuesday in The Lancet Regional Health --Americas.

The survey asked more than 14,500 Canadians online between December 2020 and February 2021 if they intended to get vaccinated once they were eligible, with researchers identifying differences in participants by age, education, ethnicity, and home province.

Nine per cent of respondents overall said they did not intend to get vaccinated, with hesitancy highest in Alberta at 16 per cent, and Manitoba and Saskatchewan, both at 14 per cent.

Fifteen per cent of respondents who identified as Indigenous and 12 per cent of those identifying as racialized said they did not intend to get vaccinated.

Men were more hesitant than women overall -- 11 per cent versus eight -- and participants aged 40 to 59 had the lowest vaccination intention, with about 12 per cent reporting no intention to get vaccinated.

The survey suggested that education also factored into hesitancy, with 14 per cent of participants with a college education or less saying they did not intend to get vaccinated, compared to five per cent of respondents with a bachelor's degree or higher.

The study did not indicate whether intent translated into action, but researchers say they plan to answer that in the coming months.

They noted that 18 per cent of eligible Canadians had not yet received a COVID-19 vaccine dose by Aug. 27 -- nearly twice the rate expected in the survey.

Researchers said the findings should encourage policymakers to target vaccine campaigns on the most reluctant groups, as well as those who said they planned to get a shot but did not.

The study was a collaboration between the Centre for Global Health Research at Unity Health Toronto, the University of Toronto and the Angus Reid Forum. Funding was provided by an unrestricted grant from Pfizer Global Medical Grants and Unity Health Toronto.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 31, 2021.

CTVNews.ca ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.

Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.

For the last seven-and-half months, Toronto resident Heather McArthur has been living out what she describes as her 'worst nightmare.' On Feb. 7, her then three-year-old son Jacob along with his father Loc Phu 'Jay' Le departed for what was supposed to be a week-long visit to Vietnam to celebrate the Lunar New Year with family, McArthur says.

Local Spotlight

They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.

David Krumholtz, known for roles like Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause and physicist Isidor Rabi in Oppenheimer, has spent the latter part of his summer filming horror flick Altar in Winnipeg. He says Winnipeg is the most movie-savvy town he's ever been in.

Edmontonians can count themselves lucky to ever see one tiger salamander, let alone the thousands one local woman says recently descended on her childhood home.

A daytrip to the backcountry turned into a frightening experience for a Vancouver couple this weekend.

Stay Connected