[Prime Minister Trudeau] We know that
without a vaccine we don't get through this pandemic.
[Reporter] It’s the only way out of this.
[Trudeau] We are looking forward to being able to vaccinate Canadians in the coming months.
[Reporter] And yet
When it comes to a COVID-19 vaccine
many Canadians are not looking forward to one.
Many are simply not sure which way to go.
Vaccine hesitancy.
It’s quietly building and putting public health at a pivotal crossroad.
Dr. Theresa Tam is Canada’s chief public health officer.
She spoke to us from Ottawa about what she says is a top priority.
How critical is it to capture that hesitant group?
It is extremely critical.
It is really important that as many people
get vaccinated as possible to protect themselves
but also others who are at higher risk.
[Reporter] Tam has been a sobering face of this pandemic.
As the head of the Public Health Agency of Canada,
she’s tasked to inform and now more than ever persuade.
We know that some people have made up their minds
and others have not.
We call the group that hasn't made up their minds
who needs more answers to the questions
“the movable middle.”
[Reporter] Much of the reluctance is more reasonable than rigid.
Skeptical rather than suspicious.
Yeah, I'm definitely not an anti-vaxxer by any means.
I believe that they have their place.
There's diseases that we were able to eradicate
as a result of vaccines and vaccinations.
[Reporter] Tanya Hayles has made sure her son is up to date with his immunizations.
But those shots have been around for decades
unlike the COVID vaccines on the near horizon.
I want to hope that there's going to be a time where outside opens again
and we can gather without fear.
And I know that a vaccine is going to be the first step towards people feeling comfortable with that.
I don't even like early tech, right.
When a new iPhone comes out, I'm like, ahh, I'll wait until it works out the bugs and the kinks.
And I'm kind of feeling the same way when it comes to the vaccines.
[Reporter] So you wouldn't be the first in line.
I am not going to be the first in line for this, no.
[Reporter] Not the first in line, maybe not in any line.
Despite the rising number of infections
the relentless toll on health care.
Not to mention pandemic fatigue.
Public health numbers suggest up to 35 per cent of Canadians
are unsure about getting a COVID 19 vaccine when it’s available.
And that number that could go up.
Vaccine hesitancy is a real and persistent problem in Canada
and it does appear to be growing somewhat.
[Reporter] Aengus Bridgman is a researcher at the Media Ecosystem Observatory in Montreal.
The group is tracking vaccine hesitancy in Canada.
And the misinformation that seems to be shaping it.
Vaccine hesitancy is not inherently misinformation.
It can contain misinformation and often does
but is itself not -- you know, you have very legitimate concerns about vaccines
and not be sort of anti-science or anti-intellectual.
[Reporter] The so-called moveable middle may not be anti-vaxxers.
But a barrage of misinformation online, around everything
from the accelerated speed of vaccine development
to pauses in vaccine trials
can fuel mistrust.
Repeat exposure to misinformation
to misleading content
can change opinions
even if sort of the first time you see something that's very misleading
and you go, "oh, that can't possibly be true."
You know, you have a generally positive perception of vaccines.
If you see it over and over and over again in your social media feed
that is the seed of doubt that creep in.
It's sort of the familiarity effect, if you will.
And over time
yes, that can certainly change people's minds.
[Reporter] It’s why scientists from around the world recently waged
a social media campaign of their own
to debunk vaccine myths.
Public health officials in Canada are working on one too.
Aimed especially at young people
who are on social media the most.
The strategy includes enlisting influencers on YouTube
putting the word out on gaming platforms
as well as testimonials from younger Canadians who got infected with the virus.
Tam says that group is especially important.
[Tam] Some of the insights that we’ve gained
is that those who actually get the information on digital or social media platforms
are less likely to get vaccinated
than those who follow traditional media.
So, I think that's why it is a very key pillar of our approach
in the days and weeks and months ahead
to be able to get that group of people
the information that they need to get vaccinated.
[Reporter] But while public health officials are raising the alarm,
Lisa Cottingham doesn't feel a personal sense of urgency.
She’s not against vaccines
her son is up to date with his shots.
But she’d just rather wait and see.
I feel like it's more important for people that are vulnerable or
senior citizens to have the vaccine
because they're more susceptible to COVID itself.
I'm a normal, healthy adult.
Not that I'm not worried about it, I am.
But I don't really feel that I need to jump to getting the vaccine.
And why is that?
I feel like that there's not enough information about it
and I'd rather wait and see.
I'm happy to wear a mask
I'm happy to socially distance from people.
And, you know, other people's health is important to me.
I just feel like I'm not in urgent need of this vaccine.
[Reporter] But if hesitant Canadians become holdouts
that poses a risk to herd immunity.
With no other health measures in place
experts estimate around 70 per cent of the population would need to be vaccinated
to stop the virus from spreading.
This is a nasty virus
and it's true that most people will survive
and you know, not have a bad case
but if one percent of the Canadian population gets a severe infection
and 0.1 percent of them die
you're talking about a lot of deaths.
I'm not willing to accept that type of mortality from an infectious disease.
To me, that's a high priority for vaccination.
[Reporter] Dr. Scott Halperin is with the Canadian Immunization Research Network in Halifax.
He’s involved in COVID vaccine trials
and is also working with public health officials to identify and address
Canadians top vaccine concerns.
The speed of vaccine development keeps coming up.
When somebody says, well, it takes 10 to 15 years to develop a vaccine.
That's correct.
You know, in the first several years -- four, five years --
is understanding the virus itself
and understanding what the important antigen is.
So what's protective?
What does the immune system do to protect against it?
A lot of that work was done before
because this is another coronavirus.
We already had SARS, we had MERS,
we had the seasonal coronaviruses.
So we knew a lot about this.
[Reporter] Halperin says that earlier research gave vaccine makers several years of a head start.
An unprecedented global collaboration streamlined administrative steps too,
shaving several more years off the process.
Ultimately, Halperin says
it comes down to a collective responsibility.
I think if we want to get beyond restrictive public health measures
the population is going to really need to buy into vaccinating.
Protect themselves and to protect their communities.
The same reason why we wear masks.
We're doing that to protect other people.
That's the same thing with vaccines.
Vaccines are to protect yourself, but they're also there to protect others.
It's very important for the community to buy into
that we're all protecting each other by doing this.
And by doing that, we can get back to a normal life.
[Reporter] Normal life
that hinges on Canadians’ acceptance of a vaccine.
And, their trust in one.
Tam says that will be a key message going forward.
Our Health Canada regulators, I would say, is one of the most
stringent regulatory authorities in the world.
And they will not approve a vaccine unless
they are satisfied that they've seen the data
and that the benefits far outweigh the risks.
So I think that's really important for everybody to understand.
Even after the vaccine rolls out,
there is a massive work on the way to make sure we monitor
the vaccines on an ongoing basis
[Reporter] The road ahead will be a cautious one.
The hope is the shadows of hesitancy will only last so long
on the promise of better days ahead.
Ioanna Roumeliotis, CBC News, Toronto.
Yeah,