OTTAWA— According to a new pole, huge part of the majority in Canada blame Ottawa for delays in COVID-19 vaccine delivery rather than provincial governments.
In the opinion of sixty-nine percent of respondents, Canada is behind on deliveries because of federal challenges obtaining doses on the global market, an online survey by Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies suggests.
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Only 14 percent of respondents place the blame on provincial governments.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says all Canadians who want to be vaccinated will get a vaccine by the end of September, regardless of recent obstacles in the production of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
People remain divided on whether they will get a shot of the vaccine before October, with 44 percent convinced they will and 51 percent doubting it.
The split suggests Canadians maintain a measure of faith in the Liberal government’s procurement efforts, Leger executive vice-president Christian Bourque declared.
“People haven’t given up hope that we will get there, but they’re certainly looking for answers,” he told.
According to one list, Canada is placed below the top of the heap in vaccine doses administered per 100 people, and out of two dozen large countries it is ranked at the 17th place—well behind Romania and just ahead of China and Russia.
“A lot of what we hear is that Canada is falling behind. When people hear that, they automatically think it’s got to be something going on in Ottawa more than in my province,” Bourque stated.
Pfizer-BioNTech cut Canada’s deliveries by more than two-thirds over four weeks while a production site in Belgium was expanded, though as the month progresses, shipments are mounting again.
At the start of February Moderna also shorted Canada on expected doses —the company said the problem was due to production going slower than expected at its Swiss manufacturing partner Lonza—and during its next shipment on Feb.22 it will deliver only two-thirds of the originally planned drop.
Only one in five of the people asked said Ottawa should look to approve vaccines made in Russia and China even if further delays the process of vaccination.
Earlier this month, Germany became an unlikely supporter of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine. German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated she would consider distributing it and providing production sites to accelerate the European Union’s immunization drive.
“It seems to be gaining some momentum or public favour, but for some reasons Canadians, they’re shying away from it,” Bourque said about the Sputnik jab.
The number of respondents who plan to take the vaccine as soon as it becomes available continues to grow, rising to 73 percent in comparison to 63 percent in mid-October.
“So the intention is there,” Bourque cleared.
“But again, it’s just a question of supply.”
The online poll surveyed 1535 Canadians and was conducted from Feb. 12 to 14. It cannot be assigned a margin of error, as internet-based polls are not regarded as random samples.
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Source: The Epoch Times
