Vaccine hesitancy highest in Alberta, racialized groups at rollout’s start: survey – CBC

Survey asked more than 14,500 Canadians if they intended to get vaccinated once eligible

Aug 31, 2021

A national survey suggests the vast majority of Canadians planned to get vaccinated against COVID-19 when the country’s rollout began, but intentions were lower among certain demographics, including residents of Alberta and racialized communities.

The survey, led by researchers at Toronto’s St. Michael’s Hospital, was published online Tuesday in The Lancet Regional Health —Americas.

The survey asked more than 14,500 Canadians online between December 2020 and February 2021 if they intended to get vaccinated once they were eligible, with researchers identifying differences in participants by age, education, ethnicity, and home province.

Nine per cent of respondents overall said they did not intend to get vaccinated, with hesitancy highest in Alberta at 16 per cent, and Manitoba and Saskatchewan, both at 14 per cent.

Fifteen per cent of respondents who identified as Indigenous and 12 per cent of those identifying as racialized said they did not intend to get vaccinated.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/vaccine-hesitancy-survey-1.6160558