Table 2.

Quotations of participants matched to themes

Vaccine safety	“Well, my understanding is the vaccine may not necessarily prevent you from getting COVID. It might lessen the symptoms, and we still don’t know how long it’s good for. There’s a lot of questions there, and it just seems that’s brushed aside. That concerns me, because I don’t feel like my questions are answered.” Par 58, female, 47, Prince Edward Island “I do have some concerns about how quickly the vaccines were rolled out and whether there’s going to be long-term side effects down the line, because they were tested over a period of … What did I hear? 10 months instead of 10 years. I know the government says they’re safe and stuff, but the logic part of my brain says, “How do you know it’s safe if you haven’t done a long-term five- or 10-year study on these things?” Right.” Par 36, male, 34, British Colombia
Choice of vaccine	“So I’m not really 100% sure right now, but I’m still waiting to see before I get back to when my time comes, and I have to either decide. Or hopefully if I miss it, they’ll still have some at the end for those who didn’t get, so they’ll have enough to still get vaccinated. But right now you have no choice. Whatever comes out now or whatever’s left over, first come first serve. So you can’t just pick what you want. It’s like ordering food.” Par 26, male, 53, British Colombia “That’s one question I’ve had, that’s why I’ve got a hesitancy. I can tell you right off the bat, I’m not into the AstraZeneca thing. I’m not. I will be vaccinated in about eight days and it’s either Moderna or Pfizer.” Par 46, male, 65, Quebec “Well, just because of one vaccine, the AstraZeneca there that I will not take because of the side effects,” Par 56, female, 61, Quebec
Fear mongering	“I just don’t like the idea of feeling like I have to get that in order to … I’m sure things are exaggerated. I’ve heard to leave the country, to leave your province, to go to work. How far does this go sort of thing? That’s what concerns me. Like I say, there’s probably a lot of misinformation and a lot of scare tactics out there, because it gets more attention, but it is a concern, because you don’t know.” Par 58, female, 47, Prince Edward Island “So the wastage rate was less than 1%, which that doesn’t make an article. You wasted a thousand doses. And if you don’t, if you wait until the second to last paragraph in your story to say that a thousand doses represents less than 1% of the doses administered, nobody reads that far down. They read the first couple of paragraphs of the story. They see the headline and they form their opinion. So that’s why I didn’t rely on the media for my opinion on vaccination, and most people that got vaccinated didn’t. “Par 41, female, 63, Manitoba “I don’t know if it’s false, but occasionally a couple articles early of like, “Oh, this person had an allergic reaction and blah, blah, blah.” And the clickbaiting fear of vaccines. I’ve seen that, I obviously didn’t go down that rabbit hole, but I’ve seen it there, so I know it’s out there.” – Par 13, female, 38, Alberta
Trust in authority	“But, yeah. I don’t know. I think it’s a bit of cognitive dissonance there. I don’t know if I want to know that much about the vaccine. Everybody’s getting it. I’m sure this is probably just my cognitive dissonance talking, but I’m sure the government’s done what they need to do to make sure it’s safe.” Par 14, female, 31, Alberta “I’m of the opinion that if government has signed off on these things that are safe, which might put me in the minority in this day and age, but anyways, so basically if it’s directly from government, I think it’s legit.” Par 36, male, 34, British Colombia
Belief in vaccinations	“It hasn’t impacted my decision at all. I was just like, yeah as soon as the vaccine’s here, I’m ready. Give me as many doses as it takes.” Par 12, female, 35, Ontario “Oh, well, I’m a vaccine believer. So, I’m just like, I would have the flu vaccine every year. There’s no way I would not have this vaccine. So we were really anxious as to when we would get it. And we were watching and watching to see when we would be allowed to do so.” Par 45, female, 81, Ontario “I would’ve got the vaccine anyway, because number one, I believe in it. When I was a kid, getting the smallpox, chicken pox, all those shots, I’ve had them all. So I believe in that. I’ve got my shingles vaccine as well. I’ve been a science person, so I would’ve gotten it anyway.” Par 19, male, 65, Saskatchewan
Delaying vaccination	“That I’m still not sure, because it’s kind of … Where the information we get, which vaccines are we’re going to get? We don’t know. Is there a possibility that we could pay and get the vaccine we want? That I would like but that’s impossible. And the vaccines, one dose or two doses … Who are they to make the decision that, that one is better that than that one. That one, I’m really not sure. I’m going to get vaccinated. But I’ll probably be one of the last. I want to see if people get any disadvantages of the vaccine before getting vaccinated. I won’t be the first one.” Par 21, female, 54, Quebec “Just to see how the reaction is on the general public. I think that’s more my theory and I know they’ve done the testing and stuff like that and they’ve come out relatively good, which is why they’re doing it on the general population now. But like I said, I’d rather wait it out. No rush. You don’t need it anyways.” Par 42, male, 42, Manitoba “I’m very mixed on taking it. I don’t think I’d be the first to jump in when my age comes along.” Par 20, male, 66, Saskatchewan
Confusing information	“And I understand that they were operating with older information but I think that maybe there should have been a little editorial discretion on their part when they came out with that because I think that was very confusing to people. Because on one hand they’re saying 65 and over shouldn’t have that particular one but then if you look at the real world information from Europe and Great Britain, it’s been fine. So that causes some consternation … ” Par 22, male, 68, Manitoba “Because with these vaccines, I don’t think any of us understand. We don’t understand one has two shots, but they’re holding back the second shot and they’re telling them not to hold back. We don’t understand … You know, there’s a lot of confusion with vaccines.” Par 32, female, 81, New Brunswick “I don’t know what’s true or what’s not true about all this stuff but there’s so much and so many reports and it’s like when I was talking to my sister the other day, I said, “Yeah, you don’t know what to believe or what not to believe and what’s exaggerated and what’s over the top, what’s true, what’s not true”.” Par 51, male, 65, Alberta
Access to vaccines and information	“But at the same time, I feel like I know nothing about the vaccination rollout, I have no idea really when I myself will have access to it.” Par 3, male, 22, Nova Scotia “So I don’t really make that decision for them [parents] whether or not they should be vaccinated, but I kind of keep a lookout and make sure that you know when it’s their turn, that they do go get vaccinated.” Par 14, female, 31, Alberta