More than a third (38 per cent) of Canadian plan members who currently work from home said they’re concerned about interacting with people who aren’t vaccinated when they return to their workplace, according to the 2021 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey.
A slightly smaller percentage (34 per cent) of plan members who aren’t currently working at home said the same. As well, among the 55 per cent of Canadian plan sponsors that agreed there will be different health and wellness challenges post-coronavirus pandemic, 65 per cent cited anxiety among employees who are returning to the workplace due to not knowing who’s been vaccinated.
Read: Pandemic shifting benefits plan challenges for sponsors, members: Benefits Canada survey
When surveyed back in May, 71 per cent of plan members said they’ve received a coronavirus vaccine. Sixty per cent said they got it as soon as they became eligible, while 11 per cent were hesitant and said it took some time to make the decision to get vaccinated.
An additional 19 per cent of plan members stated they planned to get vaccinated as soon as they become eligible, resulting in nine in 10 plan members who were, or plan to be, vaccinated, at the time the survey was conducted. Eight per cent said they’d decided not to get the vaccination and three per cent said they won’t get it due to health or religious reasons.
Fifty per cent of plan sponsors said, to the best of their knowledge, at least one of their employees had tested positive for the coronavirus. About three-quarters (72 per cent) of plan members said they’re anxious they or a family member would contract the virus and 35 per cent of those respondents were extremely (13 per cent) or very (22 per cent) anxious. Additionally, members with caregiving responsibilities were much more likely to be extremely/very anxious (44 per cent) than those who aren’t caregivers (29 per cent).
Download the 2021 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey report here.