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| Health workers participate in a simulation for COVID-19 vaccination in The Medical City in Pasig City on February 18, 2021. (Photo from The STAR/Michael Varcas) |
[Asia News Communication = Reporter Reakkana] MANILA — Only 19% of adult Filipinos in a survey by OCTA Research said they’re willing to get COVID-19 vaccines while nearly half aren’t willing to get inoculated even if a safe and effective vaccine becomes available, according to PhilStar. The Tugon ng Masa survey of 1,200 respondents found that 46% will opt-out as the country awaits the arrival of critical goods. Thirty-five percent or, roughly a third, are undecided.
Intent to get vaccinated was lowest among those in Balance Luzon (14%). A quarter of Filipinos in Metro Manila (25%) and Mindanao (26%) and a fifth in the Visayas (20%) said they will have themselves vaccinated. The inclination to get vaccinated among Class D (18%) is slightly lower than those of Class ABC and Class E, both at 23%. A survey released by Pulse Asia in January had the same result: 47% are unwilling to be vaccinated.
The government faces the difficult task of conducting a COVID-19 vaccination campaign as it re-establishes trust in immunization two years after the Dengvaxia controversy. This was highly politicized despite the lack of conclusive evidence that the vaccine developed by French firm Sanofi Pasteur caused the deaths of children inoculated with it during the previous administration.
