Majority of Canadians not worried about Omicron COVID variant: Survey
Posted December 10, 2021 5:10 am.
Last Updated December 10, 2021 11:34 am.
The new Omicron COVID-19 variant has already prompted federal travel bans and ominous projections from public health officials, but a new survey shows most Canadians aren’t hitting the panic button.
A Maru Public Opinion survey conducted between December 3-5 revealed that the majority of Canadians (54 per cent) are not worried about contracting Omicron and haven’t adjusted their behaviours as a result of its emergence.
The survey also revealed that two-thirds (62 per cent) believe the current vaccines or peoples’ own immunity will be enough to protect them.
About half (49 per cent) however, believe the Omicron variant is being underestimated and is in fact more highly contagious and deadly than the last COVID wave dominated by the Delta variant.
That worry has led to less shopping trips (38 per cent), with one-in-three saying they’ve also cancelled or postponed travel plans.
On Tuesday, Ontario’s Science Table warned that the Omicron variant will “almost certainly hit us hard and fast” this winter, threatening to overwhelm the already-burdened ICU system.
In order to stave off a worst-case scenario, the Science Table stressed the need for booster vaccine shots, high vaccine rates among children aged 5 to 11, and behaviour modifications that limit large, indoor gatherings.
Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Kieran Moore, called the new modelling “disconcerting” but said the worst outcomes are preventable.
“Our fate is in our hands — we can wash them, we can use them to put a mask on and we can find the nearest clinic where we can provide the safe and effective vaccines.”
The survey involved 1,510 randomly selected Canadian adults and has a margin of error of +/- 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
