ALMOST HALF OF ALL CANADIANS — 44 PER CENT — THINK THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS DONE A POOR JOB OF SECURING SUFFICIENT DOSES OF COVID-19 VACCINES, ACCORDING TO NEW POLLING BY THE ANGUS REID INSTITUTE.

Survey reveals partisan divide in confidence

Almost half of all Canadians — 44 per cent — think Canada has done a poor job of securing sufficient doses of COVID-19 vaccines, according to new polling by the Angus Reid Institute, a number that has more than doubled since polling six weeks ago.

Back in mid-December, only 23 per cent of Canadians felt the federal Liberals were doing a poor job of securing vaccines, compared with 47 per cent who were confident in their procurement abilities.

The poll, released Friday, comes amid rising anxiety over the ability of the federal Liberals to secure vaccines to distribute to the provinces and hit national vaccination targets.

On Thursday, Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin, who is in charge of vaccine distribution for the federal government, said Canada would get just one-fifth of the expected doses of the Pfizer vaccine over the next two weeks, but insisted Canada was still going to get four million doses by the end of March, even as some premiers questioned the likelihood that would happen.

But over the past six weeks, there have been several issues beyond the Pfizer supply. There have been concerns about vaccine doses sitting in provincial freezers, for example, and reports this week that Ontario had been wrongly tallying the number of doses it had given.

“None of this serves to bolster confidence among Canadians,” said Shachi Kurl, the president of the Angus Reid Institute, told the National Post in an interview.

Confidence has also declined in the government's ability to distribute and circulate the vaccine in the country. The Angus Reid polling shows that less than half — 45 per cent of Canadians — believe Canada will be able to distribute the vaccines, compared with 58 per cent in mid-December.

“We basically watched over the last six weeks as a nation a series of events that have really chipped away and undermined the confidence Canadians have, not just in the Trudeau government, but in their own provincial governments,” said Kurl.

Thirty-six per cent of those polled believed the delays in receiving a Pfizer vaccine was a major setback, with the numbers changing depending on the age group. Forty-nine per cent of those older than 65 said the Pfizer delay was a major blow compared to just 26 per cent of those between the ages of 18 and 24.

With vaccine procurement mainly the responsibility of the federal Liberal government, there is a significant partisan spread: 71 per cent of Conservative voters say Canada has done a poor job of procuring the vaccines, with just 12 per cent giving the government good marks.

Of Liberal voters, 58 per cent say the government has done well, as do 43 per cent of New Democrats. Only 25 per cent of Liberals and 33 per cent of New Democrats gave the government poor marks.

At this point, Canada has vaccinated perhaps two per cent of its population.

Nearly half of Canadians are not confident in the federal government's logistics for the vaccines. About 49 per cent are “not at all” or not that confident the federal government can effectively manage distribution, while 45 per cent maintain they are very confident or confident.

Again, there is a partisan divide: 79 per cent of Conservatives are not confident, while 69 per cent of Liberal voters have high confidence in their government's abilities. Fifty-six per cent of New Democrats are confident, while 38 per cent are not.

The poll shows that Canadians are slightly more confident in their provincial government's distribution abilities. A very slim majority — 51 per cent — believe their respective provincial governments will effectively distribute the vaccine.

The confidence is lowest in Alberta (35 per cent), Manitoba (39 per cent) and Ontario (44 per cent). Those polled elsewhere, such as Quebec (63 per cent), Atlantic Canada (69 per cent), Saskatchewan (53 per cent) and British Columbia (57 per cent) are more optimistic.

“There is some level of correlation between general satisfaction with provincial governments and confidence on this issue,” said Kurl.

Confidence is steady in the vaccines, however. Sixty per cent of Canadians say they would get the vaccine as soon as possible, and 19 per cent say “yes,” but wish to wait. Only 14 per cent say they wouldn't get the vaccine.

Of those who will or may get vaccinated, 56 per cent believe vaccination is “crucially important” for a return to “normal.”

“It feels like we're at the beginning of the end, but the end is a long way off,” said Kurl. “The key metric ... is the way they are seen to be handling the vaccine rollout. And it's been a rocky six weeks.”