67% Believe Fully Vaccinated Population will not be enough

to Stop the Spread of Omicron

THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO  ~~~~~  January 21, 2022  (LSNews)   Two in Three (68%) Support Mandatory Vaccination for Eligible Canadians, but Majority (56%) also Concerned about Potential Long-Term Effects of Taking Booster Shots and How Many Will be Needed

Given the speed with which the Omicron variant is spreading, two in three (67%) Canadians agree (20% strongly/47% somewhat) that they are starting to get worried that even if everyone is vaccinated we won’t be able to stop the variant’s progression, according to a new Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of Global News. Conversely, one in three (33%) disagrees (9% strongly/24% somewhat) that they have this worry. Moreover, two in three (67%) Canadians appear resigned to the fact that COVID-19 will become endemic, agreeing (24% strongly/44% somewhat) that regardless of what we do, nearly everyone in Canada will eventually catch it.

Despite these opinions, two in three (68%) still agree (41% strongly/27% somewhat) with mandatory vaccination for all Canadians who health authorities say can be safely vaccinated (unchanged since April, 2021), with men (73%) being more likely than women (64%) to agree. Canadians aged 55+ (78%) are much more supportive of mandatory vaccinations than those aged 35-54 (67%) or 18-34 (57%). Regionally, support for mandatory vaccinations is highest in Atlantic Canada (83%), followed by Saskatchewan and Manitoba (77%), Quebec (68%), British Columbia (68%), Ontario (67%) and Alberta (61%).

A strong majority (77%) of Canadians agree (54% strongly/23% somewhat) that they would take a COVID-19 booster shot without hesitation (or have already received their third dose), leaving a quarter (23%) of Canadians with some degree of hesitation (13% strongly/10% somewhat disagree). These figures mirror the findings of a May 2021 poll conducted during the initial rollout of vaccines. Those age 18-34 (34%) are most likely to disagree that they’d get a booster shot without hesitation, followed by those aged 35-54 (28%) and 55+ (10%).

A majority of Canadians (68% – 31% strongly/37% somewhat) agree that booster shots lessen the chance they will get COVID-19 and lessen the chance they will end up in the hospital with COVID-19 (76% agree – 42% strongly/35% somewhat).

While four in ten (38%) believe (16% strongly/22% somewhat) that booster shots aren’t helping much in the battle against COVID-19, a majority (62%) disagrees (28% strongly/34% somewhat) with this position. Only three in ten (29%) agree (9% strongly/19% somewhat) that the Omicron variant is no big deal (rising to 37% among those aged 18-34), while most (71%) disagree (40% strongly/32% somewhat), still recognizing it as a significant threat to Canada.

While support for vaccinations and booster shots remains high, many Canadians harbour some reservations about getting subsequent shots: a slim majority (56%) agrees that they are concerned about the potential long-term effects of taking booster shots, and how many they will need to take in the future. This concern is significantly more widespread among those aged 18-34 (66%) than those aged 35-54 (57%) or 55+ (47%).

As the pandemic continues, Canadians are as concerned about the personal inconvenience of COVID-19 as they are about the personal health implications of COVID-19:

• Seven in ten (69%) agree (27% strongly/42% somewhat) that they are extremely worried about the inconvenience of getting COVID-19, while three in ten (31%) disagree (13% strongly/18% somewhat) that this is a concern for them.
• The same proportion (69%) agrees (28% strongly/41% somewhat) that they are extremely worried about the health implications of getting COVID-19, while three in ten (31%) disagree (11% strongly/20% somewhat). Those aged 55+ are most worried about the health implications (78%) compared to those aged 35-54 (64%) or 18-34 (65%).

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between January 14 and 17, 2022, on behalf of Global News. For this survey, a sample of 1,001 Canadians aged 18+ was interviewed online via the Ipsos I-Say Panel and non-panel sources. Quotas and weighting were employed to ensure that the sample’s composition reflects that of the Canadian population according to census parameters. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ± 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadians aged 18+ been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

Photo of Doug Ford taking the latest shot in December 

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