COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage Survey (CVCS): Cycle 1 full report

On this page

• About the first cycle
• Highlights
• Response rate
• Intent to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in the territorial capitals
• Reasons for non-vaccination against COVID-19
• Knowledge, attitudes and beliefs
• Trusted sources of information about COVID-19 vaccines
• To summarize
• To be continued

About the first cycle

The first cycle of the COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage Survey (CVCS) targets all adults 18 years of age and older living in the capital cities of the Yukon (Whitehorse), Northwest Territories (Yellowknife) and Nunavut (Iqaluit). In the territories, Statistics Canada usually surveys residents from small communities outside of the capitals through home visits. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, surveying in small communities outside the capitals was not possible.

Highlights

• Cycle 1 of CVCS was conducted in March-April 2021 in the capitals of the 3 territories.
• 80% of residents in the 3 capitals were already vaccinated against COVID-19, while 16% were likely to get vaccinated and 4% were unlikely to get vaccinated.
• Individuals with university education or higher, and those with an annual income of more than $60,000 were more likely to have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
• The majority of residents of territorial capitals are confident that COVID-19 vaccines are safe (87%) and effective (88%).

Response rate

Intent to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in the territorial capitals

Respondents were asked whether they intended to get vaccinated against COVID-19. This allows to better understand the uptake of COVID-19 vaccines in the territorial capitals.

Overall, individuals were more likely to get vaccinated than to not get vaccinated; only 4% of the residents in the 3 capitals did not intend on getting vaccinated against COVID-19.

Note: Results for Iqaluit (Nunavut) is not included since number of respondents in this capital is insufficient to produce reliable results.

Figure 1: Text description

Percentage of individuals 18 years old or older who intended to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in all 3 capitals, and in Whitehorse and Yellowknife, March-April 2021

Capital	Already received at least one dose	Non-vaccinated
		Likely to get vaccinated	Unlikely to get vaccinated
All 3 capitals	80	16	4
Whitehorse	81	15	4
Yellowknife	85	11	4

Key results by socio-demographic factors

The intent to receive COVID-19 vaccines may be associated with socio-demographic factors such as level of education and household income. The next section shows how intent of getting vaccinated against COVID-19 varies with these factors in all territorial capitals.

By level of education

The proportion of individuals who were unlikely to get vaccinated against COVID-19 was higher in those with secondary education or less.

Figure 2: Text description

Percentage of individuals 18 years old or older who intended to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in all 3 capitals by level of education, March-April 2021

Level of education	Already received at least one dose	Non-vaccinated
		Likely to get vaccinated	Unlikely to get vaccinated
Secondary or less	68	23	8
Post-secondary or above	85	13	2

By household income

The proportion of residents of the territorial capitals who are unlikely to get vaccinated was higher in those with household income of less than $60,000 comparing to the higher income groups.

Figure 3: Text description

Percentage of individuals 18 years old or older who intended to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in all territorial capitals by household income, March-April 2021

Household income	Already received at least one dose	Non-vaccinated
		Likely to get vaccinated	Unlikely to get vaccinated
< $60,000	69	21	10
$60,000 to <$120,000	83	15	2
≥ $120,000	85	12	2

Reasons for non-vaccination against COVID-19

• The most common reason across all adults for not getting their COVID-19 vaccine was they do not want to be vaccinated at this time (24%).
• Almost one fifth of residents of the territorial capitals stated that they have an appointment in the future (19%).
• The top reasons among those who do not want to be vaccinated at this time and those who do not want to be vaccinated at all (7%) include:
• I do not trust the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines.
• I am not at high risk of getting COVID-19.
• I do not trust the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines.

Knowledge, attitudes and beliefs

To better understand the factors influencing decisions on vaccination, respondents were asked about their views regarding COVID-19 vaccine and vaccines in general (Table 2).

• The majority of residents of territorial capitals are confident that COVID-19 vaccines are safe (87%) and effective (88%) in preventing the disease.
• Most of residents of territorial capitals believe that vaccines in general are safe (95%) and effective (97%) in protecting people.
• However, 18% distrusts COVID-19 vaccines because they were developed too quickly and 26% believe that physical distancing, frequent handwashing and wearing a mask are enough to protect themselves from the disease.

Trusted sources of information about COVID-19 vaccines

To measure the performance of vaccination campaigns and design future vaccination programs, respondents were asked about their trusted sources of information regarding COVID-19 vaccines (Table 3).

• The most trusted sources of information about the COVID-19 vaccines are the Public Health Agency of Canada and Health Canada (89%), and provincial, territorial or regional health authorities (85%).
• Less than one fifth of residents of territorial capitals trust vaccine information from friends or family (19%), and 11% believe the information from alternative health providers.

To summarize

The majority (80%) of the population eligible for vaccination had received at least one dose, and less than half (39%) were fully vaccinated. About three quarters of the unvaccinated residents of territorial capitals intended to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

To be continued

Data collection for Cycle 2 of the CVCS in the 10 provinces was completed on May 12, 2021. The survey results will be available in late June or July 2021.

For more information about the COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage Survey, please contact us at: phac.coverage-couvertures.aspc@canada.ca.

For more information about COVID-19 vaccines

• Vaccines for COVID-19
• COVID-19 in Canada
• Canada’s vaccine supply and donation strategy
• Reported side effects following COVID-19 vaccination in Canada
• The facts about COVID-19 vaccines
• Publications: Vaccines and immunization

For health professionals

• COVID-19 information for health professionals : Vaccines
• National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI)
• Guidance on the prioritization of initial doses of COVID-19 vaccine(s)