According to the poll, 6 in 10 Canadians support closing the U.S.-Canada border to non-essential travel to curb the spread of Omicron.Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press
With the Omicron variant sweeping across the country and COVID-19 case counts on the rise, 8 in 10 Canadians say they will definitely get a vaccine booster shot, according to a new poll.
Six in 10 Canadians also support closing the U.S.-Canada border to non-essential travel to curb the spread of Omicron.
The poll found that 80 per cent of the 1,005 Canadians surveyed by Nanos Research just before Christmas on behalf of The Globe and Mail would definitely get a booster; another 9 per cent said they would probably get a third shot.
Only 3 per cent of respondents said they would probably not get one, and 6 per cent said they would definitely not. Two per cent said they were unsure.
Nik Nanos, the chief data scientist at Nanos Research, said the poll shows significant generational differences. More than 90 per cent of Canadians 55 and older plan to get a booster, compared with 76 per cent of 18- to 34-year-olds.
“It probably speaks to the fact that they’re an at-risk population and they’re the one group that needs to be protected, and seniors are on board very strongly in terms of taking the booster,” Mr. Nanos said.
Support for a third shot was highest in Atlantic Canada, Quebec and Ontario, where more than 90 per cent of respondents in each region said they would definitely or probably get the shot.
In British Columbia, 14 per cent of respondents said they would definitely or probably not get a booster, and 12 per cent of respondents in the Prairies also opposed getting one when they become available.
The poll consisted of a hybrid telephone and online random survey with results gathered on Dec. 22 and 23. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
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As Omicron drives an increase in hospitalizations across the country, and airlines cancel hundreds of flights, some Canadians are also concerned about international travel.
A majority of Canadians (61 per cent) said they support or somewhat support closing the U.S.-Canada border to non-essential travel, while 23 per cent of respondents said they oppose closing the border, with another 14 per cent saying they somewhat oppose the idea.
“For many Canadians, they see … the U.S.-Canada border as a potential risk,” Mr. Nanos said.
Women were more likely to support closing the border than men, with 65 per cent of female respondents in favour, while 56 per cent of male respondents were opposed.
According to the poll, 43 per cent of Canadians see visitors from other countries as a bigger health threat than Canadians travelling internationally and returning home.
Respondents 55 and older were more likely than respondents aged 18 to 34 to say foreign visitors are a bigger threat.
In December, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos advised Canadians against all non-essential international travel, citing concerns about the rapid spread of Omicron.
The poll found that about 1 in 4 Canadians think their neighbours will ignore the advice, a response Mr. Nanos said he found “striking.”
“I think a lot of this has to do with the fatigue that’s out there. For many Canadians, the pandemic has lasted much longer than anyone anticipated, and there’s no real end in sight right now,” he said.
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