More British Columbians willing to get COVID-19 vaccine, survey finds

British Columbians are more willing to get the COVID-19 vaccine than they were in the past, a new poll has found.

A survey conducted by Angus Reid earlier this month found 54 per cent of British Columbians said they would get the vaccine as soon as they could, the highest of any province.

Thirty-one per cent said they would get vaccinated eventually.

2:36 Waiting for first batch of Pfizer-COVID-19 vaccine to arrive in B.C.

A November poll found just 38 per cent of respondents in B.C. were receptive to getting a vaccine as soon as possible.

The survey found a similar trend across Canada, with 48 per cent of Canadians saying they want to be vaccinated ASAP, up from 40 per cent back in November.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has said the province will start its immunization program this week with 4,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

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She expects about 400,000 residents to be vaccinated by March.

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Those recipients are to be health-care workers, people over 80, vulnerable populations and front-line workers, including teachers and grocery workers.

Dr. Ran Goldman with UBC’s Faculty of Medicine said the poll results are similar to his own research.

“I see great willingness to accept the vaccine to COVID-19,” he said.

“When we did a survey in 16 hospitals in six countries recently, 65 per cent of parents of children said, ‘Yes, we’re going to give the vaccine to our child.’ And that was even before it was approved.”

“I think we’re in front of an important piece in history when it comes to giving vaccine and moving to the post-COVID era.”

— With files from The Canadian Press