WINNIPEG -- Recent announcements of highly-effective COVID-19 vaccines have had little impact on Canadians’ willingness to get vaccinated, according to a new survey, which found that Manitoba is the most dissatisfied province when it comes to the government’s handling of the pandemic.

Between Nov. 12 and 16, the Angus Reid Institute asked nearly 1,600 Canadian adults whether they’d get vaccinated or not if a COVID-19 vaccine became available, with only about 40 per cent saying they’d go as soon as possible. The survey found that 36 per cent of respondents would go eventually but wait for others to get immunized first and 15 per cent said they would not get vaccinated.

These results were nearly unchanged compared to when Angus Reid asked Canadians the same question back in September, even though Pfizer and Moderna have both recently announced vaccines with high rates of effectiveness.

Amid the potential of a vaccine, the survey found that Canadians are quite worried about contracting COVID-19.

Nearly 70 per cent of respondents said they are personally concerned about getting COVID-19, while just over 10 per cent said they are not concerned at all.

MANITOBA

When looking specifically at Manitoba, Angus Reid determined that Manitobans are the most critical province when it comes to the government’s handling of the pandemic. 

The survey found that only 37 per cent of Manitobans think the provincial government is doing a good job, a number that has dropped nearly 30 per cent since Angus Reid asked the same question back in August.

Manitoba’s satisfaction is significantly lower than the rest of the country. Angus Reid reported that overall 66 per cent of Canadians think their provincial government has done a good job dealing with the pandemic.

Angus Reid conducted this survey as Manitoba’s Code Red restrictions came into effect. It found that 21 per cent of Manitoba’s think the province’s restrictions have gone too far, 48 per cent think they don’t go far enough, and 31 per cent think they are about right.

As part of this survey, Angus Reid polled 1,578 Canadians who are part of their forum. A probability sample of this size carries a margin of error plus-minus 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.