THE latest public opinion survey from the Angus Reid Institute, conducted in partnership with CBC British Columbia – shows increases in the number of people across the country – and in Canada’s westernmost province specifically – eager to roll up their sleeves and be vaccinated as soon as they are eligible.

This, despite recent confusion over the efficacy and best use of certain vaccines on the general public, and the announcements that several provinces would be further extending the period of time between the administration of first and second doses of multi-dose vaccines.

Those in Quebec are most optimistic about being vaccinated sooner than later – while those in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba express expectations for a longer wait.

Further, the number of Canadians worried about personally falling ill from COVID-19 has plummeted nearly 10 points over the last two months, from 71 per cent in early January to 62 per cent in early March.

Despite a slightly warmer outlook about their own lives in the thirteenth month of this unprecedented pandemic – views of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s own performance on the file remain frigid. For the first time, fewer than half of Canadians (44%) now say Trudeau has done a “good job”.

More Key Findings:

• Quebecers are three times as likely to say the amount of time they expect to wait to be vaccinated is “acceptable” than people one province over in Ontario (29% versus 11%)
• While nearly two-thirds of British Columbians (63%) are willing to be vaccinated as soon as they are eligible, vaccination hesitancy and rejection grows the further away from Metro Vancouver they live. In the province’s most populous region, the number saying they will not accept a vaccine stands at seven per cent – this rises to 20 per cent in Northern British Columbia
• Eight-in-ten (82%) British Columbians are motivated by protecting family when assessing their reasons for wanting a vaccine. This rises to nine-in-ten among those who self-identify as being of South Asian descent