Flu Fight

Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION

Majority of Canadians prepared to roll up sleeves now, poll shows

By: Staff Writer

Posted: 11/4/2009 6:58 AM | Comments: 0

TORONTO -- Canadians are becoming less and less ambivalent about the prospect of the H1N1 vaccine, and a majority of people say they either plan to roll up their sleeve to get the swineflu shot or have already done so, a new poll suggests.

The results of the latest Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey suggest that public reticence about the vaccine is rapidly diminishing in the face of growing concern about the virus.

The poll surveyed 1,000 Canadians by phone between Oct. 29 and Nov. 1 and carries a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The margin of error is slightly larger in the case of regional breakdowns, which are based on a smaller sample size.

Forty-nine per cent of respondents said they intended to get the shot, while six per cent reported already having done so -- a sharp increase over a similar poll last month that found only about a third of those surveyed intended to get vaccinated.

Only 36 per cent of respondents said they had no plans to get the vaccine, a drop of 14 percentage points since early October.

Since that earlier poll, there have been a number of well-publicized deaths related to the pandemic, including 13year-old Evan Frustaglio, an otherwise healthy Toronto-area student.

Such deaths have likely helped to galvanize public concern about the pandemicMore information about the poll is available at www.harrisdecima.com.

-- The Canadian Press

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