Poll: most vaxxed Canadians unsympathetic towards COVID-positive unvaxxed

As politicians find their stride on the campaign trail, the issue of mandatory vaccinations is beginning to snowball, putting some contenders in an awkward position. Nigel Newlove reports.

Most vaccinated Canadians say they “don’t have a lot of sympathy” for unvaccinated Canadians who then test positive for COVID-19.

That’s according to a new Angus Reid poll of 1,615 Canadians — some vaccinated, some who planned to be vaccinated, and others who did not want the shot.

Of the 1,359 vaccinated Canadians polled, 83 per cent said they didn’t have sympathy for COVID-positive people who didn’t receive the vaccine. Seventeen per cent of them expressed some sympathy.

“I think that’s a pretty stark finding,” said Shachi Kurl, Angus Reid Institute.

Of the 117 people polled who had no intention of getting the COVID-19 vaccine, 82 per cent expressed sympathy for their fellow Canadian in the above situation.

Credit: Angus Reid Institute

Roughly 23.6 million Canadians have been fully vaccinated, or 71.3 per cent of all people at least 12 years old. Eighty-one per cent have received at least one shot.

Vaccinations have become an early election issue as each federal party vies for voters in the 36-day campaign.

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau had an ominous message for those choosing not to get vaccinated.

“If anyone who doesn’t have a legitimate medical reason for not getting fully vaccinated, chooses to not get vaccinated, there will be consequences.”

Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole’s position was more nuanced.

“We need to use vaccines, they’re critical. But in some cases where we can use daily rapid testing, masking and all other measures we need to bring people together, not divide,” he said. “We need to get people vaccinated but also have a plan in cases where they’re not.”

Kurl believes O’Toole is stuck on a fence.

“The fine line that Erin O’Toole has to walk as the Conservative leader is the fact that while the majority of his base does support these types of measures, whether they be incentives or regulations, he’s also got the highest proportion among his base who say governments should do nothing and should be entirely up to Canadians.”

Just last week, Ottawa announced that all federally regulated employees, airline passengers and train passengers will be required to get fully vaccinated.

A stance supported by the NDP.

“I strongly believe in a mandatory vaccination,” said NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh. “And what that looks like is going to be that we’re going to say, to work in a certain employment federally, and federally regulated, that you need to be vaccinated. People have the choice not to get vaccinated but there will be consequences for those choices.”

The Angus Reid poll also revealed two-thirds of Conservative party voters were in favour of regulations or incentives to boost vaccination numbers, compared to 93 per cent of Liberal voters.

Meanwhile 12 per cent of NDP voters said the government should not intervene to encourage higher vaccination rates.

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