Nova Scotia has surveyed residents about the pandemic since 2020. Here's what it's learned

An expert in COVID-19 stigma says polling done for the Nova Scotia government throughout the pandemic should be used to better address gaps in public health.

Since the fall of 2020, the province has spent about $150,000 on public opinion research that takes "a snapshot of what Nova Scotians were thinking, feeling and doing related to COVID-19."

The polling covers topics like awareness of public health advice and compliance, vaccine hesitancy, and the level of concern people have with the pandemic.

CBC News obtained the survey "debriefs" through an access-to-information request.

Robert Huish, an associate professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax, reviewed the documentation that consisted of detailed explanations and slides. Huish's expertise includes global health ethics and COVID-19 stigma.

"The goal of public health is to care for everybody," said Huish.

"It doesn't matter your political stance or creed or background or history ... and what I think those reports are showing is that there's definitely a population who is not included."

The documents make reference to vulnerable people several times.

A statement from Communications Nova Scotia defined vulnerable people as those who weren't vaccinated or planning to get vaccinated, as well as the "less than one in 10" Nova Scotians they said were not following news about COVID-19 (spring 2021).

"We considered those Nova Scotians to be more 'vulnerable' than other Nova Scotians (and 'farther away from us and each other'), because they were not part of the big groups that were vaccinated/planning to get vaccinated as well as following news and receiving public health advice often," said the statement.

Huish said Nova Scotia was a global leader for its early handling of the pandemic, but the polling should be used to do more research about how to improve.

"There's admission that there are parts of the province and communities in the province who weren't just more at risk because of COVID, but they were increasingly more vulnerable as these policies and protocols came out," he said.

"And I believe these are communities that they acknowledged were at risk of disinformation for example."

Health and Wellness statement

In a statement, the Department of Health and Wellness said the polling has helped "meet Nova Scotians where they are, practise evidence-based decision-making and evaluate our progress, especially in the areas of marketing and communications."

"Epidemiology surveillance informs public health guidance and how to best improve public health response to situations like disease outbreaks and the COVID-19 pandemic."

As of June 15, the province said 869 Nova Scotians have died from COVID-19.

The province's surveying also says vaccine hesitant/resistant Nova Scotians were:

• More likely to be members of low-income households.
• More likely to have high-school education than post-secondary education.

Vaccines have been proven to reduce the risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death.

The province said 84.8 per cent of eligible residents have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 81.5 per cent have completed their primary series.

"Nova Scotia has one of the highest rates of vaccination, but it also has a very strong and committed group of folks who refused the vaccine," said Huish. 

"I think you're looking at a small but very dedicated group who didn't want to pursue the COVID vaccine."

Huish said the province should be talking to people who are unvaccinated to better understand their decision.

"They're still our friends, they're still our neighbours," he said.

"They've got stories, they've got reasons. And that's the tricky part about public health, is that you have to include everybody in your mandate, so that means listening to those who aren't prepared to take recommended advice at times."

The polling also looked at people's concern over COVID-19. The "fear factor" reached a record low mean of 4.1 out of 10 in the latest polling (winter 2023). The record high was 6.5, which was recorded in fall 2020 and spring 2021, according to Communications Nova Scotia.

The latest polling reveals that while "Older Nova Scotians, persons with disabilities, women and members of low-income households continue to be more concerned about COVID-19 than younger and middle-aged Nova Scotians, persons without disabilities, men and members of middle- and high-income households."

It called this an important reminder of the unequal impacts of the pandemic, saying it is evidence of health inequity.

Read the province's COVID-19 survey findings below.