While a new poll by Maru Public Opinion suggests Canadian attitudes towards those who remain unvaccinated is hardening, the Acting Medical Officer of Health in Windsor-Essex is urging compassion.
The poll, taken last weekend, asked 1,506 participants chosen randomly their opinion about those who haven't had their shots.
It found 37 per cent think it's acceptable to deny them publicly-funded healthcare. A slight majority, 54 per cent, have no sympathy for those who get seriously ill from the virus, and 45 per cent wouldn't care if they died.
Only 27 per cent believe the unvaccinated are good people with legitimate concerns, and just over one in ten think they are heroes for free speech and freedom of choice.
Asked what he thinks of the results, Doctor Shanker Nesathurai confessed it was a difficult subject to broach.
"We've all lived through this for two years. We've all been affected by it," he said, expressing some sympathy for those who are angry with the unvaccinated.
The poll asked those who remain unvaccinated why, and 45 per cent said they were defending their freedom of choice. Four in ten wanted more data, and a third believe their immune system can beat COVID-19.
Nesathurai said public health is built on a foundation of kindness and compassion, regardless of whether people agree with medical advice or not.
He also reassured the unvaccinated.
"If someone is sick, the healthcare system has an obligation to treat them," Nesathurai said. "Every resource at the hospital should be available to every patient."
However, he pointed out the intensive care units are populated with people who thought their immune systems could handle COVID-19 without vaccination. Nesathurai again referred to data the percentage of the unvaccinated who end up in the hospital and dying far outweighs the vaccinated. He called those deaths "senseless" and urged those who haven't, to get their shots.
