Poll shows Canadians support COVID-19 vaccine boosters, but intake has stalled

The Ipsos poll conducted for Global News found just over half of Canadians are also worried about the long-term impacts of taking multiple booster shots.

A majority of Canadians remains supportive of COVID-19 vaccine booster doses to better protect themselves from the virus, a new poll shows — even though the number of people actually rolling up their sleeves for additional shots has stalled.

The Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News found 66 per cent of those surveyed said they would take a booster shot without hesitation, and three-quarters agreed that boosters reduce the risk of hospitalization.

Yet just 49 the population has actually received an additional dose after completing their initial two-dose series, according to federal data, a rate that has remained stable for several weeks.

“The urgency around this is not what it was, say, a year or 18 months ago,” said Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs.

“There’s an intention to get boosted … but there doesn’t seem to be an urgency to do it.”

Ipsos surveyed over 1,000 Canadian adults online last week for its poll.

The results echo the national statistics, with 43 per cent of respondents saying they have had three vaccine doses so far, while just 15 per cent said they have had four — higher than the nine per cent reported by the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Despite the strong support for boosters, the poll also found 53 per cent of Canadians surveyed are concerned about the long-term effects of taking multiple booster shots, and how many they’ll have to take in the future.