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As manufacturers remain concerned about pandemic vaccine production rates, almost half of Canadians believe that those willing to pay extra should be first in line to receive the vaccine, a new survey finds.

A Globe and Mail-CTV poll also found most Canadians - 62 per cent - wanted an H1N1 vaccination shot when it becomes available, likely in early November.

"It's kind of your lifeboat question. They don't necessarily want women and children to go first. There's a bit of a level of acceptance that users pay for vaccines," said Peter Donolo, a partner with The Strategic Counsel, which conducted the poll.

Fears that it may take substantially longer to mass produce a vaccine have heightened because the new virus strain is not growing fast enough in the eggs used as a mainstay of flu vaccine production. Manufacturers report strains are producing barely half as much yield to make vaccines as the seasonal flu virus. Canadian health authorities have indicated groups who receive the vaccine first will likely include remote communities, people with underlying chronic diseases, health-care workers and essential workers.

The poll found that Canadians believe children and middle-aged adults, among the most affected by the virus, should be at the top of the list. Infants, pregnant women and the elderly rank below.

Most Canadians, the survey showed, agreed that swine flu was a serious health threat, but also said the media had hyped up the issue. This was especially true among the highly educated and high-income earners. About three-quarters of those with an annual salary above $100,000 felt the issue has been overblown and were the least concerned.

That doesn't mean Canadians were not taking precautions. Almost all of those surveyed said they washed their hands more frequently, as recommended by public health authorities. "Everyone has heard of swine flu. Everyone is washing their hands more, which is remarkable," Mr. Donolo said.

And Canadians trust health authorities to protect them. Almost one in nine surveyed said health officials were taking proper precautions to prepare, and most said Canada was better prepared than most countries to cope with the virus.





Still, they would support more aggressive actions. Even though the World Health Organization has said the virus can't be stopped from crossing borders, 62 per cent of Canadians would support a government initiative to bar visitors from affected countries.

At the same time, most were against cancelling concerts and games.

"There's an amount of selfishness here, in the sense of the impact on me personally," Mr. Donolo said. "For example, barring somebody from an affected country doesn't really affect a lot of Canadians in their everyday lives, unless they happen to be a friend or relative of the people that are being barred. But when you start getting into cancelling large public gatherings, like concerts and sporting events, forget it. They don't want to do that."

The online survey of 1,000 Canadians was done from July 17 to 21.

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