More than 10 percent of Canadians did not disclose their actual vaccination status when asked by federal pollsters if they received three doses of COVID shots, according to an internal memo by the Privy Council Office.
The March 2022 memo, which was obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter through an Access to Information request, found that although 68 percent of Canadians claimed to have received the shots at the time, the rate reported by Health Canada was 55 percent.
“There are a few possible reasons for the discrepancy between the survey results and official figures for booster update,” said the memo, titled “Considerations on the Discrepancy Between Booster Dose Uptake.”
Researchers cited “social desirability” as one of the possibilities “where respondents tend to answer questions in a manner that will be viewed favourably by others.”
The federal poll was conducted at a time when individuals who did not take the COVID shots were denied access to public services and threatened with job loss.
“Some respondents may be counting ‘intention to be vaccinated’ or having an appointment as having been vaccinated,” wrote researchers.
“The most institutionally mistrustful are less likely to participate in surveys and they are the least likely to be vaccinated.”
The Privy Council noted a “similar trend” in the way Canadians reported their vaccination status a year prior to its March 2022 findings.
Pollsters said they observed a similar trend during the initial rollout of vaccines in the spring of 2021 “where the proportion of respondents who indicated they had received a vaccine was roughly 20 points too high,” said the memo.
“Similarly the same pattern emerged during the summer of 2021 where the proportion of respondents who said they had received two doses was 10 points too high.”
In other research published on March 12, 2021, the Privy Council found that Canadians were sharply divided over vaccine mandates imposed by governments.
Some 22 percent were “lukewarm about getting the Covid-19 vaccine” while 11 percent expressed “very strong mistrust of all institutions,” including Health Canada, according to the study, titled “Psychographic Segmentation Of Canadians Regarding Covid-19,” obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter.
Another 29 percent said “government restrictions have not gone far enough” while 21 percent were “afraid personally of getting the virus.”
