Government Survey Finds 1 in 3 Doctors and 1 in 2 Nurses in Canada Hesitant to Take COVID Vaccines
One-third of doctors and over half of nurses were hesitant to receive the COVID-19 vaccine due to concerns about potential side effects, as per research conducted by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).
The report revealed that “Fifty-nine percent of health-care workers reported some degree of hesitancy in their decision to get vaccinated,” with 31 percent of doctors and 54 percent of nurses admitting “some level of hesitancy.”
The research also found that despite the reluctance, 89 percent of health workers did receive the vaccines, with fear of job loss being the most commonly cited reason for getting vaccinated.
According to the federal government’s Health Infobase, as of November 6, 2022, 80.4 percent of people across Canada, or around 24.3 million people, had completed their primary series of COVID-19 vaccines.
While health-care workers expressed strong support for vaccination in general, there were lower perceptions around the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines, particularly among nurses and “allied health workers” (ALHWs).
The survey categorized health-care workers into different groups based on their attitudes toward COVID-19 shots, including those who were vaccine confident, vaccine supporters, vaccine hesitants, unvaccinated respondents, and a group referred to as mandate-driven vaccinees.
Concerns Over Side Effects Common
Among the unvaccinated respondents, common reasons for not getting vaccinated included concerns about long-term side effects, safety and effectiveness of the vaccines, and rejection of being mandated to get vaccinated.
Other reasons for refusing vaccination included concerns about short-term side effects, lack of confidence in Canada’s regulatory and informational systems for immunization, concerns about vaccine schedules, and religious or spiritual reasons.
The report also highlighted that employment considerations played a role in the decision to get vaccinated or not for some health workers.
The research categorized health workers into three subgroups based on profession, and found that despite high vaccine uptake in Canada, a significant proportion of health workers reported being infected with the disease, regardless of vaccination status.
PHAC emphasized the significance of the report’s findings, which were based on an online questionnaire with 5,372 health workers, along with 33 in-depth interviews and focus group sessions conducted from May 8 to August 14, 2023.
