DESPITE the availability of vaccine supplies, most Filipinos have remained hesitant on taking vaccine shots against COVID-19, says an administration-friendly survey firm.
In a recent survey administered by Pulse Asia, the greatest number of respondents at 61 percent would say “no” to getting inoculated with a COVID-19 vaccine, translating an increase from the previous Pulse Asia survey released in January 2021, when 47 percent of Filipinos said they were unwilling to get vaccinated if a COVID-19 shot was available.
The latest survey results released on Friday, March 26, also found that only 16 percent of respondents would have themselves vaccinated, while 23 percent said they “cannot say” if they would have themselves vaccinated.
The survey was conducted from February 22 to March 3.
Pulse Asia conducted face-to-face interviews with 2,400 Filipinos aged 18 years old and above for its survey fieldwork. The survey has a 95 percent confidence level with a ±2 percent margin of error.
Among those unwilling to get vaccinated, the survey found that the respondents’ top three reasons for refusing a vaccine were vaccine safety, its efficiency and doubt if those vaccines could serve the purpose.
Interestingly, 90 percent of Metro Manila respondents are wary of the safety of the vaccines. Moreover, 86 percent of the respondents from the adjoining provinces feel the same 86 percent. An identical 80 percent skepticism also hounds Visayas and Mindanao.
One percent of survey respondents said they would not have themselves vaccinated as the vaccine “might not be free,” while another 1 percent said they would not get vaccinated because it “might be costly or expensive.”
The survey also found that the vaccine developed by Pfizer was the most preferred by those willing to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Only 22 percent of the respondents favored the vaccine developed by Chinese bio-pharmaceutical firm Sinovac.