Background There are concerns that vaccine hesitancy may impede COVID-19 vaccine rollout and prevent the achievement of herd immunity. Vaccine hesitancy is a delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite their availability. Objective We aimed to identify which people are more and less likely to take a COVID-19 vaccine and factors associated with vaccine hesitancy to inform public health messaging. Methods A Canadian cross-sectional survey was conducted in Canada in October and November 2020, prior to the regulatory approval of the COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccine hesitancy was measured by respondents answering the question “what would you do if a COVID-19 vaccine were available to you?” Negative binomial regression was used to identify the factors associated with vaccine hesitancy. Cluster analysis was performed to identify distinct clusters based on intention to take a COVID-19 vaccine, beliefs about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines, and adherence to nonpharmaceutical interventions. Results Of 4498 participants, 2876 (63.9%) reported COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Vaccine hesitancy was significantly associated with (1) younger age (18-39 years), (2) lower education, and (3) non-Liberal political leaning. Participants that reported vaccine hesitancy were less likely to believe that a COVID-19 vaccine would end the pandemic or that the benefits of a COVID-19 vaccine outweighed the risks. Individuals with vaccine hesitancy had higher prevalence of being concerned about vaccine side effects, lower prevalence of being influenced by peers or health care professionals, and lower prevalence of trust in government institutions. Conclusions These findings can be used to inform targeted public health messaging to combat vaccine hesitancy as COVID-19 vaccine administration continues. Messaging related to preventing COVID among friends and family, highlighting the benefits, emphasizing safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccination, and ensuring that health care workers are knowledgeable and supported in their vaccination counselling may be effective for vaccine-hesitant populations.

On February 17 th , 2003, the London Congestion Charging Scheme came into effect. Preliminary results show a significant response to the £5 ($8) charge. Congestion over the first year decreased by 30 per cent, overall traffic levels within the charging zone fell by 16 per cent, speeds for car travel increased by over 20 per cent and bus travel became more reliable.Elasticities of demand for trips by car with respect to generalized costs are estimated to be between -1.32 and -2.10. The average marginal congestion cost within the central zone is estimated at £1.65 per veh-km (approximately $2.58 per veh-km).The net economic benefits of the Scheme for the first year were £50 million ($78 million) and the net revenues, £68 million ($106 million). Net revenues are being mainly used to improve public transport.

Background Public support of public health measures including physical distancing, masking, staying home while sick, avoiding crowded indoor spaces and contact tracing/exposure notification applications remains critical for reducing spread of COVID-19. The aim of our work was to understand current behaviours and attitudes towards public health measures as well as barriers individuals face in following public health measures. We also sought to identify attitudes persons have regarding a COVID-19 vaccine and reasons why they may not accept a vaccine. Methods A cross-sectional online survey was conducted in August 2020, in Alberta, Canada in persons 18 years and older. This survey evaluated current behaviours, barriers and attitudes towards public health measures and a COVID-19 vaccine. Cluster analysis was used to identify key patterns that summarize data variations among observations. Results Of the 60 total respondents, the majority of persons were always or often physically distancing (73%), masking (65%) and staying home while sick (67%). Bars/pubs/lounges or nightclubs were visited rarely or never by 63% of respondents. Persons identified staying home while sick to provide the highest benefit (83%) in reducing spread of COVID-19. There were a large proportion of persons who had not downloaded or used a contact tracing/exposure notification app (77%) and who would not receive a COVID-19 vaccine when available (20%) or were unsure (12%). Reporting health authorities as most trusted sources of health information was associated with greater percentage of potential uptake of vaccine but not related to contact tracing app download and use. Individuals with lower concern of getting and spreading COVID-19 showed the least uptake of public health measures except for avoiding public places such as bars. Lower concern regarding COVID-19 was also associated with more negative responses to taking a potential COVID-19 vaccine. Conclusion These results suggest informational frames and themes focusing on individual risks, highlighting concern for COVID-19 and targeting improving trust for health authorities may be most effective in increasing public health measures. With the ultimate goal of preventing spread of COVID-19, understanding persons’ attitudes towards both public health measures and a COVID-19 vaccine remains critical to addressing barriers and implementing targeted interventions and messaging to improve uptake.

Les auteurs examinent l'effet de la pandémie de COVID-19 sur les marchés de l'électricité dans certaines provinces canadiennes en s'appuyant sur les données disponibles. Leur analyse des données relatives à l'électricité à haute fréquence révèle que la demande d'électricité a diminué d'environ 10 % en Ontario, moins dans les autres provinces étudiées. Du côté de l'offre, en Alberta, ils observent que la production de certaines centrales au gaz naturel a diminué, mais que la production nette à partir des installations des sables bitumineux a augmenté, tandis que l'Ontario a enregistré une augmentation des exportations nettes. Les répercussions de ces constats sur les politiques sont notamment leur incidence potentielle sur les tarifs en raison de frais fi xes répartis sur une base tarifaire plus restreinte, l'utilisation potentielle des données sur l'électricité comme indicateur économique en temps réel pendant la pandémie et un cri du coeur pour que soit facilité l'accès aux données sur l'électricité dans toutes les provinces canadiennes. Mots-clés : COVID-19, demande d'électricité, disponibilité des données, génération This article examines the effect of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on electricity markets across select Canadian provinces, using available data. Using high-frequency electricity data, we fi nd electricity demand declined by roughly 10 percent in Ontario and by about 5 percent in Alberta, British Columbia, and New Brunswick. On the supply side, in Alberta we fi nd reductions from some natural gas plants and an increase in net generation from the oil sands region, whereas Ontario sees an increase in net electricity exports. Policy implications include potential rate impacts as a result of fi xed charges spread over a smaller rate base, the potential use of electricity data as a real-time economic indicator during the pandemic, and a call to arms to make electricity data across all Canadian provinces more readily available.

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