New poll finds Canadians confident in COVID-19 vaccines

Canadians’ general confidence in COVID-19 vaccines appears to be holding firm.

This is despite swirling confusion and concern about the safety of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

A new online poll by Leger of 1,500 Canadians over the weekend found more than eight in 10 respondents said they are either vaccinated already or plan to get inoculated when it’s their turn.

Over 80 per cent said they have trust in the vaccines from both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, while fewer than half felt that way about the AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson shots.

Both the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson have been linked to cases of a rare blood-clotting syndrome.

Over 340,000 COVID-19 vaccines were administered on Monday, for a total of more than 16.2-million doses so far.

Two-million Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine doses are scheduled to arrive in Canada this week, allowing provinces to continue to ramp up their immunization efforts.

Ontario residents 40 and older will be able to book vaccines starting Thursday.

READ MORE: Ontario expands COVID-19 vaccine eligibility