Atlantic Canadians strongly support mandatory vaccinations for school-aged children, poll suggests

Nine in 10 Atlantic Canadianscompletely or mostly support mandatory vaccinations for school-aged children, according to a recent poll.

A Narrative Research survey found that support for mandatory vaccinations is consistent across Atlantic Canada.

The research firm reached 1,501Atlantic Canadians by telephone between Oct. 31 and Nov. 22.

"The growing number of measles cases across Canada this year reignited public discussion about mandatory vaccinations for school-aged children," said Margaret Brigley, CEO of Narrative Research, in a news release.

It found 89per cent of respondents from the four provinces said they were in favour of mandatory vaccinations.

Eight per cent of Atlantic Canadians said they mostly or completely oppose mandatory vaccinations, and three per cent did not know or couldn't provide an answer.

Overall results of the pollare accurate to within 2.5 per cent, 95 out of 100 times.

Provincial breakdown

Respondents in Newfoundland and Labrador showed the highest level of support for mandatory vaccinations, with 93 per cent saying they completely or mostly support it. One per cent of respondents in that province didn't know or didn't give an answer.

New Brunswick respondents had the lowest level of support among the provinces, with 87 per cent completely or mostly in support of mandatory vaccinations. Four per cent of respondents gave no answer or didn't know.

New Brunswick is one ofonly two provinces in Canada the other being Ontario requiring vaccinations for school-aged children.

On Prince Edward Island, 91 per cent of respondents supported mandatory vaccinations and 89 per cent of people surveyed in Nova Scotia were in favour. Three per cent of respondents in eachprovincedidn't know or didn't provide an answer.

In Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia, 400 people were surveyed, in New Brunswick there were 401 respondents, and on P.E.I. 300 people took part.

Margins of error for the samples in each individual province are greater than 2.5 per cent.

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