PM DOING `BAD JOB' ON VACCINE ROLLOUT: POLL
SHORTAGES, DELAYS HAVE DAMAGED LIBERALS, BUT NEW SUPPLIES COULD REVIVE CONFIDENCE
Agrowing number of Canadians believe the Trudeau government has fumbled its efforts to deliver COVID-19 vaccines to the public in a timely manner, according to a new poll. The survey by Maru Public Opinion, commissioned by the National Post, found 57 per cent of respondents agreed with the statement Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has thus far done a “bad job” of distributing vaccines to the provinces, an increase of 14 per cent from when the same question was asked in the first week of January.
At the same time, 60 per cent of respondents said the provinces are doing a “good job” of administering vaccines, up five per cent over the same period.
The poll results come amid rising public impatience with the federal government's vaccination campaign, which has been hampered by temporary supply shortages and distribution delays.
Federal efforts have nonetheless begun to show signs of returning to initial targets in recent days, with public health officials now hinting that vaccines could be administered well before the government's end-of-september deadline.
Even so, Canada's dismal ranking in administering vaccines compared with other countries could have a lingering effect on public perception of the Trudeau government, particularly if new delays crop up, said John Wright, executive vice-president of Maru Public Opinion. That could in turn carry some weight should parliamentarians trigger an election this spring.
“If they're looking towards an election in June, which seems to be speculation, then I would be concerned about this, because the ballot question is not so much about vaccines as it is about competence,” Wright said.
However, public opinion could always shift back should the Liberals meet or exceed their current targets, he said.
“I think this can be reversed, but it could take the next month or more.”
Maru surveyed 1,515 randomly selected Canadians on March 1 and 2; the poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
Respondents living in Alberta were most critical of the federal government, with 71 per cent saying Trudeau did a bad job, up from 52 per cent in January. The next most critical provinces were Manitoba and Saskatchewan (66 per cent), Ontario (61 per cent) and Quebec (52 per cent).
Atlantic Canada was the least critical, with 43 per cent saying Ottawa had done a bad job, up from 27 per cent two months earlier. Atlantic Canada also saw a drop in people who believed Ottawa had done a “good job,” from 73 per cent down to 57 per cent.
Also in the survey, 62 per cent of respondents said they would get a vaccine “immediately,” up from 55 per cent in January and 36 per cent in December. The number of respondents who said they wouldn't get vaccinated fell from 16 per cent in December to 10 per cent in March.
“It just shows the appetite,” Wright said. “We've got a population now that has confidence that this vaccine is going to work, and they want it. And when you see the demand escalating among the public and you don't have the supply, that's where the issue of competence certainly is going to play out.”
The schedule for Canada's vaccine rollout remains highly uncertain. Ottawa has contracts with seven vaccine
WE'VE GOT A POPULATION NOW THAT HAS CONFIDENCE THAT THIS VACCINE IS GOING TO WORK.
makers internationally, but still needs to approve some manufacturers, including Johnson & Johnson and Novavax. The federal government last weekend approved Oxford University's Astrazeneca vaccine, providing a major boost in incoming orders after Moderna and Pfizer both delayed shipments to Canada earlier this year.
Dr. Howard Njoo, deputy chief health officer at the Public Health Agency of Canada, said it now seems plausible that the federal government could beat its target of administering two vaccine doses to all Canadians by the end of September.
The Trudeau government has been holding to the September date, viewed by many as a purposefully generous timeline that Ottawa could easily meet.
“If you look at it, the timelines would shift and we would be able to cover up, you know, the vast majority of the Canadian population in a sort of advanced timeline, or moving it up by several weeks,” Njoo said in a conference call with media Thursday.