The recent success of a pair of COVID-19 vaccine trials has re-ignited hope for a sunnier spring.
A new poll suggests that the proportion of Canadians planning to get vaccinated for COVID-19 is on the rise after some encouraging initial results from Pfizer's vaccine trial.
The survey by Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies found that 69 per cent of respondents plan to get inoculated against the novel coronavirus once Health Canada approves a vaccine that is free and broadly available, a jump from the 63 per cent who said they would take up such an offer one month ago.
Still, about one in five respondents said they do not intend to receive doses of the Pfizer vaccine in particular if it's ready in the spring, despite early results that suggest a 90 per cent effectiveness rate.
Leger executive vice-president Christian Bourque says he's worried that some Canadians will turn away from a vaccine, but attributes their apprehension to lack of familiarity with the pharmaceutical giant rather than a wave of anti-vaccination fever.
Bourque says he finds reassurance in the fact that only nine per cent of respondents said they think vaccines are dangerous and should not be taken or given, while 79 per cent said they do not hold such a belief.
The online poll, conducted Nov. 13 to 15, surveyed 1,522 Canadians, and cannot be assigned a margin of error because internet-based polls are not considered random samples.