VANCOUVER -- Nearly two-thirds of British Columbians are planning to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as soon as they’re eligible, according to a new survey conducted by the Angus Reid Institute.
The willingness to be inoculated immediately has significantly increased following Health Canada’s approval of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the fourth vaccine to be given the green light.
The poll found that concerns over personally falling ill from the coronavirus has dropped to the lowest level since July 2020.
It also found 82 per cent of B.C. residents are being motivated to roll up their sleeves in order to protect their family members.
That figure rises to nine-in-10 people for those who identify as being of South Asian descent.
However there is still hesitancy among some British Columbians, which appears to grow the further away from Metro Vancouver they live.
The survey suggests seven per cent of people polled living in Metro Vancouver are not in favour of getting vaccinated.
That number jumps up to 20 per cent for people polled who live in Northern B.C. communities that are skeptical of getting the vaccine.
Several poll respondents have also changed their views when it comes to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s response to the global health crisis.
For the first time, fewer than half of Canadians polled (44 per cent) say he has done a “good job.”
The online poll was conducted on March 1 to 4 among 1,748 randomly selected Canadian adults. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.3 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
