A study done in November as part of an international survey overseen by a team from the Université de Sherbrooke has revealed that only 59% of Canadians want to get the COVID-19 vaccine, compared to 68.3% who were open to getting the vaccine when asked in the same survey conducted last June, for a decrease of 9.3%. The number of people who switched from being in favour of the vaccine to undecided increased by 8.5% between June (17.9%) and November (26.4%), with the rate among those who do not want to get the vaccine remaining fairly stable.
These results are worrying, as scientists have recommended a vaccination rate of 70% to achieve herd immunity, or the point at which a population exhibits "natural" immunity to a virus. These numbers are similar to those observed in other countries, as revealed by the survey results.
"This trend of more people becoming undecided was seen in all eight countries in our study," explained Professor Marie-Eve Carignan, one of the lead investigators of this project and a specialist in crisis communications. "These results should be of serious concern to our leaders. An action plan must be developed to reverse this trend and combat the fear and misinformation associated with the COVID-19 vaccine."
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