Seniors happier with COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Quebec than in Ontario: survey

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OTTAWA — A new survey suggests seniors in Quebec are much happier about their province’s vaccine rollout than their neighbours are about how things are going in Ontario.

The survey by Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies shows 61 per cent of Quebec respondents reported being satisfied with the province’s daily vaccine numbers.

That is a slight decrease from when the same question was asked two weeks earlier, but higher than the 41 per cent of those in Ontario who said they were satisfied.

Across Canada, 49 per cent of respondents said they were at least somewhat satisfied.

Jack Jedwab, president of the association, said that throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, people have compared their situation to how others are doing, and that vaccine rollout is no different.

“Ontario and Quebec seem to be the sort of natural benchmarks for one another,” he said.

“Quebecers feel they’re doing better.”

The online poll of 1,523 adult Canadians was conducted March 26-28. The weighted sample size in Ontario was 585 and 357 for Quebec. The survey cannot be assigned a margin of error because web polls are not considered random samples.

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The survey also found nearly 76 per cent of Quebecers aged 65 to 69 reported being satisfied with the number of vaccines being administered daily in their province.

That number was only 27 per cent in Ontario.

Jedwab said some of the discrepancy reflects the fact that Quebec opened up vaccinations to people younger than 70 earlier than Ontario did.

By March 22, Montrealers aged 60 and older could book a shot, which didn’t happen for those living in Toronto or nearby Peel Region until last Friday — after the poll was done.

The survey also shows vaccinated Quebecers to be happier with their province’s rollout, compared to those in Ontario who have received a shot.

The large difference between how older Ontario and Quebec residents feel about daily vaccination numbers isn’t shared by those younger than 55 who are not yet eligible for a shot, Jedwab said.

The survey shows 49 per cent of people polled between the ages of 18 to 34 reported some level of satisfaction with their provincial vaccine numbers, compared to 56 per cent two weeks ago.

Jedwab says they will have to see whether that gap widens, but believes the change suggests people younger than 35 feel disproportionally affected by more contagious COVID-19 variants than those 55 and older.

Doctors have been warning for weeks that more young people are being hospitalized with infections caused by more transmissible mutations of the virus, which is hitting essential workers.