54% of Canadians have moderate to very high vaccine fatigue: CPhA

As we begin cold and flu season, Canadians have moderate to high levels of vaccine fatigue, says the Canadian Pharmacists Association. According to a vaccination survey that the association conducts, 54% of Canadians have moderate to very high levels of vaccine fatigue. The survey results are from 1,650 adults who responded in early August. It found that 32% of Canadians had no vaccine fatigue, 14% had low fatigue, 27% had moderate fatigue, 15% had high fatigue and 12% had very high fatigue. It was highest among younger age groups, especially those between 18 and 44. Only 54% of respondents planned on getting the flu shot, up 4% from the rates last year but below the national target of 80%. The top reasons people gave for not getting the flu shot were that they weren’t necessary (55%), that they didn’t believe in the flu shot (24%), that they didn’t think vaccines were safe (17%), and that they were tired of getting vaccinated (17%). Read: Inhaled, sniffed or drops—big push for no-needle COVID-19 vaccines In addition, most respondents said they wanted to get their flu shots at a pharmacy. More than half (60%) said a pharmacy was their preferred location to get a flu shot, versus 20% who preferred their doctor’s office, 8% who wanted a community health centre, 7% a pop flu clinic and 4% who chose at work. Less than half (47%) said they planned getting a COVID-19 booster. The top reasons for not getting it were that they didn’t think they needed to get vaccinated for COVID-19 (37%), they were tired of having to get vaccinated (31%), they don’t think vaccines are safe (24%), they don’t believe in the COVID-19 vaccine (23%), and they recently got a booster shot (12%). Awareness of RSV was low, with only 32% saying they were very or somewhat familiar with RSV. However, 56% of people over 60 years old said they would definitely or probably get the RSV vaccine if it were available to them. The top reasons for not doing so were that they didn’t think they needed to get vaccinated for RSV (30%) and that they didn’t know what RSV was (21%), followed by being tired of getting vaccinated, not thinking vaccines were safe, and not believing in the RSV vaccine, which (all 12%). The study also found that 27% of people over 50 said they planned on getting vaccinated against shingles this year, and 29% were already vaccinated against it. In addition, 71% plan on getting or have already received the pneumococcal vaccine. Read: Do COVID-19 vaccines offer benefits beyond infection protection?

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