Four times as many Canadian parents of minors are strongly opposed to vaccinating their children than five years ago, but most other Canadians think vaccine hesitancy will lead to more illness and suffering.According to a recent poll by Angus Reid, one-in-six parents of minors (17%) say they are “really against” vaccinating their kids, a four-fold increase from 2019. There has also been a simultaneous 15-point decrease (70% in 2019, 55% in 2024) in the proportion of Canadians who support mandatory childhood vaccination in schools, a policy in place in Ontario and New Brunswick. Opposition to this idea has risen correspondingly from one-quarter (24%) to closer to two-in-five (38%).Half of those with children younger than 18 say it should be the parents’ decision whether to vaccinate (52%). That proportion drops to 32% for those who do not have children under 18.Angus Reid finds seven-in-ten Canadians (71%) feel the anti-vaccination movement is going to lead to unnecessary illness and suffering in the population. However, there has been little change in the proportion of those who say opposing child vaccination is irresponsible. In 2015, 2019, and 2024, between 72 and 75% of Canadians have held this view.In 2024, views of vaccinations vary across the country, from those who are completely confident in their efficacy, to those who feel they should not be given at all.The Angus Reid Institute used responses from this survey to better understand this phenomenon, creating the Vaccine Acceptance Index. On one end are Max Vaxxers (29% of Canadians), those who feel vaccines are “very effective” at ensuring better outcomes for both the individual and the community, who support mandatory vaccination for children, and who are not concerned about the potential for “significant” side effects. On the other end is a group half that size, the Anti-Vax (14%), who overwhelmingly feel that vaccination is harmful and unnecessary, that the science isn’t settled and that the body does not need vaccination to build up immunity to these illnesses. In between are those who are largely supportive but have some reservation (the Vax Proponents 34%) and those who are skeptical but not dismissive (the Vax Skeptics 24%).At least one-in-five across each of the four vaccine acceptance groups say these are issues they worry about bringing up in social circles. This does, however, rise to three-in-10 among Anti-Vax and Vax-Skeptics.Recent news made the issue more polarizing in southwestern Ontario. On February 12, the Region of Waterloo Public Health issued 18,643 suspension orders to elementary students who do not have up to date vaccination records.The survey yielded other key findings.More than half of men between the ages of 35 and 54 (56%) are either Anti-Vax or Vax Skeptics, the highest number among all age and gender combinations. Comparatively, one-in-five women over 54 (22%) express these views.One-third of men under 55 are unsure or against vaccinating a child.Ontario residents are most supportive of a vaccine mandate for children in schools (61%), while Albertans (48%) and Quebecers (45%) are least receptive.Three-in-10 Canadians (29%) express skepticism about the science of vaccines. While one-in-three (34%) say they worry about the risk of significant side effects.Online, Health Canada prescribes a "routine" vaccination regimen for diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (whooping cough), polio, and haemophilus influenzae (type-B flu) as follows."Routine pertussis immunization of infants, children and adolescents: DTaP-IPV-Hib-containing vaccine should be provided at 2, 4, 6 and 12 to 23 months of age (generally given at 18 months of age), followed by a booster dose of either DTaP-IPV or Tdap-IPV vaccine at 4 to 6 years of age (school entry) and a booster dose of Tdap vaccine at 14 to 16 years of age."In an interview with Western Standard last May, Patrick Allard, a Winnipeger who sought seats at the school board and provincial legislature as an independent candidate, said his vaccine personal hesitancy followed his own experiences and that of a friend who successfully sued the government after her daughter was vaccine-injured."I've been talking against vaccines for my whole life. And the reason for that is, at 18 months I suffered as a reaction to the DPT shot in 1982 or 83. The shot put me into seizures and convulsions, and I almost died. And at the time, doctors were in silence," Allard recalled."And the doctors told my dad at the St Boniface hospital that this is a normal reaction to the DPT shots. And my dad said, 'Normal or common?' And then the doctor said, 'Well, it just happens a lot.'"It was at that point that my dad was like, 'Maybe we should hold off on vaccinating the rest of the kids,' because I was the oldest."
