SASKATOON -- According to a new Angus Reid Institute poll gauging Canadian's attitudes around a potential COVID-19 vaccine, people in Saskatchewan are least likely to get a shot if a vaccine becomes available.
When asked if they would get a vaccine as soon as it became available, 33 per cent of Saskatchewan respondents said yes, compared to 44 per cent nationally.
British Columbia had the highest proportion of respondents who answered yes to the question, with 52 per cent followed by Quebec and Ontario, with 47 and 46 per cent respectively.
Alberta had the second-lowest percentage of respondents who answered yes, with 41 per cent.
Also, the survey asked whether respondents would get a COVID-19 vaccine after waiting "a while" first.
The proportion of Saskaskwathcewan respondents who answered yes to the question — 31 per cent — was more in line with the national average of 32 per cent.
However, Saskatchewan's combined percentage of respondents who answered yes to either question — 64 per cent — was the lowest in the country.
"If the target threshold for an immune population is around 70 per cent, many Canadian provinces may have to work to convince residents to vaccinate," Angus Reid said in its analysis of the results.
Alberta was the closest in attitude to Saskatchewan with 71 per cent of respondents saying they would either get the vaccine right away or eventually.
Manitoba and Quebec had the next-lowest totals with both provinces coming in at 76 per cent.
The highest total was seen in British Columbia, where the percentage of respondents willing to get a vaccine either right away or eventually sat at 82 percent with Ontario following close behind at 81 per cent.
Angus Reid Institute says it conducted the online survey from July 23 – 24, 2020 among a representative randomized sample of 1,519 Canadian adults who are members of Angus Reid Forum and that a probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of +/- 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
