Canadians iffy on H1N1 shot: Poll

brian ray/the associated press

Gretchen Cress, a registered nurse draws a dose of H1N1 flu vaccine during the start of a clinical trial Monday at the University of Iowa Children's Hospital. A new poll suggests Canadians are ambivalent about getting a swine flu shot in the fall.

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Published: September 02, 2009 5:20 a.m.

Last modified: September 01, 2009 11:58 p.m.

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Canadians aren't clamouring en masse for swine flu vaccine, a new poll suggests.

The Canadian Press Harris-Decima poll also indicates some parents have concerns about allowing their children to have a vaccine that contains an adjuvant, a compound that boosts the impact of the vaccine and allows smaller doses to be used.

Only about 45 per cent of respondents intend to get pandemic vaccine when the shots become available later in the fall, the poll found. An equal percentage said they would not take the pandemic shot.

“I think the data show that there is an ambivalence in Canadians about the vaccine,” said Dr. Kumanan Wilson, a scientist at the Ottawa Health Research Institute who has done a lot of research on the anti-vaccination movement.

“I think that public health officials need to be concerned about that. Simply having the vaccine isn't going to be enough to have a successful program.”

Dr. David Butler-Jones, Canada's chief public health officer, could not be immediately reached for comment yesterday on the survey.

The findings are based on telephone interviews conducted between Aug. 20 and Aug. 23. Just over 1,000 Canadians were surveyed, giving the poll a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

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