More than 40 per cent of Ontario residents still plan to celebrate holidays with extended family, poll finds

More than four out of 10 Ontarians still plan to celebrate the holidays with their extended families even amid the rapid spread of a new COVID-19 variant that appears to reduce the efficacy of existing vaccines, a new poll has found.

Forum Research conducted an online survey of 1,001 adult Ontarians on Dec. 14 and found that about three-quarters of them (74 per cent) are concerned about the emergence of the Omicron variant, which is now believed to account for more than 83 per cent of all cases in the province.

But the poll suggests that many Ontarians still plan to go forward with their holiday plans, albeit with some precautions.

About 70 per cent of respondents said they were either very comfortable or somewhat comfortable gathering with vaccinated people outside of their households this December. A slight majority also said that they would feel comfortable shopping inside a mall (58 per cent) or dining inside a restaurant (52 per cent).

The respondents, however, we less likely to say that they were comfortable attending a holiday party (42 per cent) or a place of worship (41 per cent).

There was also widespread concern expressed about gathering with unvaccinated individuals. Only about 25 per cent of respondents said that they would be comfortable doing so.

Meanwhile when it comes to their holiday plans the respondents to the poll were largely split.

About 51 per cent said that they would keep their celebrations to their immediate household only.

But 42 per cent of respondents said that they would celebrate with their extended families. A further seven per cent said that they would not be limiting their holiday celebrations in any way.

The release of the poll comes a few days after the province’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore warned Ontarians who have not had a booster dose to avoid gathering inside with older or immunocompromised family members.

"If you are going to interact, I'd do it outdoors with masking and distancing in place. I hope the weather stays reasonable across Ontario to enable that because I think all of us have to learn for the last 20 months to best protect those that are older in our communities," he said. “I am sorry to recommend that.”

Many Ontarians were looking forward to gathering with their friends and families this year after being told to keep all December holiday celebrations to their immediate households only in 2020.

But the Ontario government has now lowered gathering limits to a maximum of 10 people indoors amid the threat posed by Omicron.

It has also begun to advise Ontarians to scale back their holiday plans.

The Forum poll was conducted prior to the province announcing a series of new public health restrictions on Friday, including reduced capacity limits and gathering limits.

Nearly half of the respondents (47 per cent) did say that the spread of the Omicron variant had impacted their plans for social gatherings over the holidays.

Those who said that they were vaccinated were more likely to say that Omicron had changed their holiday plans (50 per cent) than those who were unvaccinated (23 per cent).

Preliminary research has suggested that two doses of COVID-19 vaccine may be much less protective against COVID-19 infection with the Omicron variant, while still providing significant protection against more severe outcomes, like hospitalization and deaths.

The poll is considered accurate to within three percentage points, 19 times out of 20.