A recent poll by the Angus Reid Institute found that about one in five vaccinated Ontarians say they won’t get the second booster.
While 62 percent of respondents said they would get it, another 20 percent remain undecided.  Another 18 percent said they did not plan to receive aid.
When asked when Ontarians want to see this plan available, 61 per cent said they want to see it extended to over-18s “as soon as possible”, while another 20 per cent said “not at all /doesn’t need to be done.” The remaining 19 percent of respondents said they want to see the fourth vaccine released by fall or winter.
Despite this hesitancy about the fourth dose, nearly 70 percent of people surveyed by Angus Reid in Ontario said they were willing to get a booster every year “for as long as recommended.”  Just under 30 percent said the opposite.
A similar number of Ontarians said they feel that keeping up with vaccines is an effective way to fight serious illness or death, compared to just 18 per cent of people who disagreed.
Last week, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr.  Kieran Moore, announced that eligibility for the fourth tranche will be extended to everyone aged 18 and over.
People can get the second booster shot five months or 140 days after the last shot and if their last infection with COVID-19 was at least three months (84 days) before.
Moore urged 18- to 59-year-olds who have “underlying conditions” such as diabetes or heart disease to get the shot.
However, he advised everyone else with “persistent and strong immunity” to wait for now for the Omicron-specific bivalent vaccines, which are expected to arrive in Canada in the fall.
However, Moore suggested that healthcare workers and people who work in busy environments should get a fourth dose, even if they don’t have an underlying condition.
Toronto’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr.  Eileen de Villa strongly encourages all eligible Torontonians to get a fourth COVID-19 shot as soon as possible, regardless of Moore’s advice.
“Staying up-to-date on your vaccination is the best way to ensure that you, your loved ones and your community are protected against the virus and its variants,” he said, noting that those with a third dose had the lowest hospitalization rate against the duration of previous waves.  .
“While the third dose provides good protection against COVID-19, the fourth dose provides even better protection.”
Ottawa doctor Nili Kaplan-Myrth is also a strong advocate of the fourth shot and was prepared to sue the province if it wasn’t offered to all adults as soon as possible.
“If it gives you some added protection and knowing you’re not going to get your (bivalent) vaccine until November, why wouldn’t we want people to have their boosters instead of waiting as this wave grows,” Kaplan-Myrth told the CP24 last week.
“It was ridiculous for us to be told by Ontario that we couldn’t do the vaccine.  (Adults under 60) should be eligible and now they are.”
The Angus Reid survey is based on a random sample of 1,583 Canadian adults who are members of the Angus Reid Forum.  It was held between July 13 and July 15, following Moore’s announcement.  A probability sample of this size usually has a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
-with files from Chris Herhalt