The anti-vaccine movement, or anti-vaccine sentiment, is a challenge to any vaccine program, whether it's COVID-19 or any of our routine vaccinations. There's been a lot of effort to understand that movement and to address it.
The anti-vaccine sentiment runs a wide range, from people who are just a bit hesitant because they don't feel there's enough information, to people who are philosophically opposed to a vaccination. The latter tends to be the minority, maybe a couple of per cent, but in terms of vaccine hesitancy, it may be as high as 20% or 30% of people who have some concerns. The important part about addressing vaccine hesitancy is to be as open and as transparent as possible, to provide as much safety information as is possible and to address people's concerns, both at an aggregate level but then also at an individual level.
The Public Health Agency of Canada understands that vaccine hesitancy can be an important factor in the response once we have a COVID-19 vaccine. It's one of its priorities for CIRN, the Canadian Immunization Research Network's social sciences and humanities network, to address and do research on those concerns in preparation for potential vaccine hesitancy as vaccines are rolled out. It is a high priority of our research.