Via CBC News: H1N1 shots skipped by 60% of Canadians. Excerpt:
About four in 10 Canadians rolled up their sleeves for the H1N1 shot last flu season, Statistics Canada says.
Based on self-reported data, nearly six out of 10 Canadians, or 16.5 million people aged 12 and over, did not get vaccinated against the H1N1 virus, the agency said Thursday.
The new influenza strain emerged in April 2009 and most people had no natural immunity to it. Vaccination clinics across Canada started offering the vaccine in the fall of 2009.
Of those who did not get the shot, the most common reason, given by 74 per cent, was that they "did not think it was necessary."
The second most common reason, reported by 13 per cent, was that they "had not gotten around to it yet." The third most common reason, reported by seven per cent, was fear, but the nature of the fear was not given.
Priority groups
Rates of vaccination were higher for specific risk populations, especially among groups given priority for early immunization.
For example, 66 per cent of health-care workers said they had an H1N1 shot, compared with 35 per cent of the rest of the population.
Similarly, 55 per cent of Canadians with chronic conditions, which placed them at increased risk for complications, received the vaccine. The chronic conditions included in the report were heart disease, diabetes, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Alzheimer's disease or dementia, and obesity.
In comparison, 38 per cent of those without chronic conditions were vaccinated.
Newfoundland and Labrador had the highest vaccination rate at 69 per cent and Ontario had the lowest at 32 per cent. The territories were excluded.
The percentage of Canadians vaccinated for H1N1 exceeded the percentage who typically get a seasonal flu shot: 32 per cent.
