2.4 million are vaccine “maybes”, another 2.4 million say “no”. More than 5 million doubt the second shot is essential.
July 21, 2021
Abacus Data is proud to be supporting the research and polling for the Faster Together Task Group
The latest Abacus Data research conducted as a contribution to the Faster Together coalition reveals that vaccine-hesitant Canadians number 8% of adults (roughly 2.4 million people), while vaccine refusers number 8% (2.4 million).
We find 60% saying they are fully vaccinated, 19% who’ve had one shot and are ready to get the second as soon as possible, 4% who have had no shots but are ready to get vaccinated. That equates to roughly 5.6 million ready to get their second shot and 1.2 million ready to get both.
Vaccine hesitancy falls into two categories: 5% who say they would prefer to wait a bit before taking the shot and 3% who say they would prefer not to take the vaccine but could be persuaded to.
Today 81% believe the second shot is “essential” to ensure we end the pandemic, while 11% say it’s a good idea but not essential, and 8% say think it’s a bad idea for people to get the second shot. Fully 20% of men under 45 and 17% of women under 45 doubt that the second shot is essential to end the pandemic. A third of Green Party supporters think the second shot isn’t essential or is a bad idea as do 22% of Conservative supporters. 30% of those who self describe as on the right of the spectrum say the second shot is not essential (13%) or is a bad idea (17%).
Among the hesitant (prefer to wait) group 43% say it’s not essential, and 5% say it’s a bad idea. Among the hesitant (prefer not group, 36% say it’s not essential, and 34% say it’s not a good idea.
Today 78% believe the second shot is “essential” to protect their health, while 12% say it’s a good idea but not essential, and 10% say they are healthy enough that they don’t need the second shot.
Fully 32% of men under 45 and 34% of women under 45 have doubts about whether they really need the second shot.
30% of Green Party supporters aren’t sure they need the second shot as are 24% of Conservative supporters. 33% of those who self describe as on the right of the spectrum say they might not need the second shot.
Among those who haven’t had any shots yet but say they are ready to, almost half aren’t sure a second shot is something they really need.
Together these numbers illustrate a significant measure of complacency about the second shot, based in many cases on the feeling that the level of protection of the first shot is adequate to finish the pandemic and protect an individual’s health.
THE FASTER TOGETHER COALITION
More than 265 organizations (labour unions, individuals, industry associations, airports, universities, and businesses large and small) has formed to encourage Canadians to be vaccinated against Covid19. Co-chaired by Hassan Yussuff, Past President of the Canadian Labour Congress and Bruce Anderson, Chairman of Abacus Data and a partner in spark*advocacy. Under the banner “Faster, Together” with opinion research contributed by Abacus Data and creative services by Spark Advocacy the group offers more than 400 pieces of creative material that any organization is free to use to reach audiences they have access to.
Faster Together digital ads can be downloaded from this site and used at no cost. A second site explains the work of the coalition and provides a link to provincial sites that can inform them about vaccine availability.
Those who want to join the coalition are welcome simply send an email to banderson@abacusdata.ca or hyussuff1@gmail.com.
There is no cost to join and no limit on the size of the coalition.
CONTACT
Bruce Anderson, Co-Chair
Abacus Data / spark*advocacy
banderson@abacusdata.ca
613.882.0929
Hassan Yussuff, Co-Chair
hyussuff1@gmail.com
METHODOLOGY
The survey was conducted with 1,500 Canadian adults from July 14 to 19, 2021.
A random sample of panelists were invited to complete the survey from a set of partner panels based on the Lucid exchange platform. These partners are typically double opt-in survey panels, blended to manage out potential skews in the data from a single source.
The margin of error for a comparable probability-based random sample of the same size is +/- 2.6%, 19 times out of 20. The data were weighted according to census data to ensure that the sample matched Canada’s population according to age, gender, educational attainment, and region. Totals may not add up to 100 due to rounding.
ABOUT ABACUS DATA
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