Most Canadian Adults Vaccinated Against COVID-19 Intend to Get a Booster Shot

Toronto, ON, September 14, 2021 — A new 13-country Ipsos survey conducted in partnership with the World Economic Forum finds a large majority of Canadian adults who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 saying they would get a booster shot if it were available to them. However, most Canadians agree that the priority should be ensuring the accessibility of first doses for those who want them before making booster shots available. With the vaccine roll-out being well underway, most respondents expect booster shots to be required on an annual basis, a view that tends to stay predominant even if infection rates recede.

Most Canadians willing to get a booster shot if available

A majority of Canadian adults (77%) who have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine strongly (47%) or somewhat (30%) agree they would get a booster shot if it were available today. This trend follows the general tendency which has been observed among the other countries which were part of the study such as in Spain (73%), France (70%), the United Kingdom (82%) or the United States (81%).

For Canadians, these views stay relatively consistent across gender lines, although Males (79%) have responded slightly more in favour than Females (75%). However, differences can be observed among age groups, where younger adults are less likely to agree to a booster shot than their seniors. For instance, 67% of respondents under 24 years of age are favourable, compared to 89% for respondents between the age of 65-74. Though these inter-generational trends are consistent with that observed for other counterparts in the Global North, i.e. France, Germany and the U.K, All age groups are aligned in their opinion when it comes to Canada’s Southern neighbour – United States.

Vaccine availability, priorities and expectations  

As the implementation of vaccination programs has become an international issue, the question of the availability of doses has come to the foreground. In this context, despite the high levels of booster shot uptake intent, 74% of all Canadian adults surveyed agree that the priority for vaccines should be the accessibility of first doses for those who want them before making booster shots available. These views hold consistently across different countries, age groups and gender lines, with the exceptions of France and the U.S., where agreement is higher among males than it is among females.

As COVID-19 variants have become a major concern, most Canadian respondents (68%) expect booster shots will be annually required to maintain protection against the virus - a view that is increasingly held within higher age groups. Indeed, the inter-generational contrast is most prevalent and visible between Gen Z respondents (54%) and Boomer respondents (75%).

Furthermore, as observed within every other country included in the study except Russia, fully vaccinated Canadians are more likely to disagree than to agree with the suggestion that, once the rates of COVID-19 are low and their country has returned to pre-COVID life, there will be no reason to get another vaccine booster shot. Indeed, only 22% of Canadians tend to agree with this proposition, where even fewer older Canadians agree (10% for the 65-74 bracket and 18% for the 55-64 bracket) than their younger counterparts (31% for the 25-34 bracket and 32% for the 35-44 bracket). Canadians share this generational difference in opinion with many other countries including Australia, Germany, Russia, the U.K. and the U.S.

About the Study

The survey was conducted by Ipsos on its Global Advisor online platform, August 26-30, 2021, among adults 18-74 years of age in Canada and the United States, and 16-74 in Australia, Brazil, China (mainland), France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

The samples in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, the U.K., and the U.S. can be taken as representative of the general adult population under the age of 75 in these countries. The samples in Brazil, China (mainland), Mexico, and Russia are more urban, more educated, and/or more affluent than the general population. The survey results for these countries should be viewed as reflecting the views of the more “connected” segment of their population.

The survey was conducted in all 13 countries with a base sample of 1,000+ adults in Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the U.K., and the U.S., and 500+ adults in each of Australia, Brazil, China (mainland), Italy, Mexico, Russia, and Spain.

The data is weighted so that each country’s sample composition best reflects the demographic profile of the adult population according to the most recent census data.

Where results do not sum to 100 or the ‘difference’ appears to be +/-1 more/less than the actual, this may be due to rounding, multiple responses, or the exclusion of “don't know” or not stated responses.

The precision of Ipsos online polls is calculated using a credibility interval with a poll of N=1,000 accurate to +/-3.5 percentage points. For more information on Ipsos’ use of credibility intervals, please visit the Ipsos website.

The publication of these findings abides by local rules and regulations.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Sanyam Sethi
Director, Ipsos Global Public Affairs
+1 416 324-2001
[email protected]

About Ipsos

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