40% of Canadians don’t plan on getting updated COVID booster, flu shot: poll
Global News
Although a majority of Canadians have already received or intend to get a COVID-19 booster shot, 40 per cent of the population does not plan on rolling up their sleeves this fall.
Although a majority of Canadians have already received or intend to get a COVID-19 booster shot or flu vaccine this year, 40 per cent of the population does not plan on rolling up their sleeves for the updated shot this fall, according to a new Ipsos poll done exclusively for Global News.
The poll, released Wednesday, found of that group, 45 per cent said they did not feel it was worth getting one. An additional 23 per cent of this group expressed concerns regarding the shot’s safety, while seven per cent were outright opposed to the COVID-19 vaccine.
“The narrative around COVID boosters is shifting,” explained Sean Simpson, vice-president of Ipsos Public Affairs. “When the vaccine first came out most people supported mandatory vaccinations. Most people got their vaccines. Now we’re further removed.
“I think one of the reasons support was so high originally was because it was seen as a civic duty. And we’re not really talking about that anymore and it’s more about a personal choice.”
Health Canada approved Moderna’s updated COVID-19 vaccine on Sept. 12. A few weeks later, it then gave the green light to Pfizer’s updated vaccine. Approval for the updated Novavax vaccine is still under review and has not been announced.
The updated mRNA vaccines are tailored to the XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant that is circulating in the country. They are recommended for anyone over six months old who either last had a COVID-19 infection or a shot more than six months ago.
The boosters as well as the annual flu shots started rolling out across Canada in October, with the latest landing in Ontario. On Monday the province announced that public health units and primary health providers around Ontario will all offer new COVID-19 boosters along with annual flu shots.
Forty per cent of respondents may not want to get the updated shot, but 60 per cent said they have already received the recent booster or plan to get it soon, Simpson said.
