MONTREAL

One out of six Canadians won't get COVID-19 vaccine once available: poll

Adam Kovac CTVNewsMontreal.ca Digital Reporter

Published Sunday, June 14, 2020 8:52PM EDT Last Updated Sunday, June 14, 2020 11:31PM EDT

A lab technician holds a bottle containing results for COVID-19 vaccine testing at the National Primate Research Center, run by Chulalongkorn University in Saraburi Province, north of Bangkok, Saturday, May 23, 2020. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

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MONTREAL -- While a COVID-19 vaccine is likely over a year away, a significant number of Canadians say they won't get it, according to a new poll.

The survey, which was published by the Association for Canadian Studies on June 14, showed that while 68.3 per cent of Canadians intend on getting a vaccine once it's available, 15.6 per cent said they would not.

Respondents in Quebec roughly lined up with the national average as 68 per cent said they would get vaccinated, 18 per cent said they would not and 15 per cent said they didn't know or preferred not to answer.

According to some experts, the best estimate for how many Canadians would need to be immune to COVID-19 to eradicate the virus is between 60 and 70 per cent of the population.

The poll was given to 1,523 Canadians and 1,001 Americans, all of whom were 18 years or older. According to the Association for Canadian Studies “No margin of error can be associated with a non-probability sample. However, for comparative purposes, a probability sample of 1,523 respondents would have a margin of error of +/-2.52 per cent, 19 times out of 20, while a probability sample of 1,001 would have a margin of error of +/-3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20.”

ACS president Jack Jedwab said the poll did not include questions about why people would refuse to be vaccinated but noted the data showed a correlation with a lack of trust in public health officials. Of those who said they would get vaccinated, 86.6 per cent said they had a high level of trust in public health officials, while 58.9 per cent of Canadians who wouldn't said they had no trust at all in public health officials. There was also a correlation with being afraid of personally contracting COVID-19: 83.6 per cent of Canadians who would get the vaccine said they were very afraid. Only 6 per cent of those who don't plan on getting vaccinated said they were very afraid.

Americans who were polled were less likely to want to get vaccinated: 54.8 per cent said they would get inoculated, while 23.4 per cent said they wouldn't and 21.7 per cent said they didn't know or preferred not to answer.