SWS: 51% of Filipinos confident in gov’t evaluation of COVID-19 jabs

by Gaea Katreena Cabico (Philstar.com), 21 May 2021

MANILA, Philippines — Only half of Filipinos expressed confidence in the government’s evaluation of coronavirus vaccines, a Social Weather Stations survey showed.

The poll, conducted from April 28 to May 2, found that 51% of the 1,200 respondents were confident in the country’s vaccine screening process. Thirty-one percent were uncertain, while 17% were not confident.

Confidence in the evaluation of COVID-19 vaccines was highest in Mindanao (58%), followed by Visayas (55%), Metro Manila (49%) and Balance Luzon (47%).

Of those who expressed trust in the government’s assessment of jabs, 58% said they were willing to get inoculated.

The Department of Health has been pointing out that all COVID-19 vaccines available in the country are safe and effective. Only vaccines granted emergency use authorization by the country’s Food and Drug Administration can be rolled out in the government’s immunization program.

Before a vaccine can be issued an EUA, it has to go through rigorous evaluation processes involving the Department of Science and Technology, FDA, and various vaccine expert groups.

The vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Moderna, Sinovac Biotech, Gamaleya Research Institute, Johnson & Johnson and Bharat Biotech have been cleared for emergency use in the country.

Willingness to get jabbed

The survey also asked respondents if they were willing to be given a COVID-19 vaccine that has been approved by the FDA.

Thirty-two percent said they were inclined to get inoculated, 35% were uncertain and 33% were unwilling.

Personal protection and prevention against COVID-19 were the top reasons of those who were willing to get vaccinated. Meanwhile, those who were uncertain and unwilling about inoculation mentioned the fear of side effects as the reason for their hesitancy.

The proportion of those who want to be vaccinated was highest in the capital region (41%), Mindanao (34%), Visayas (32%) and Balance Luzon (28%).

The survey was conducted using face-to-face interviews. It had sampling error margins of ±3% for national percentages, and ±6% for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

As of May 18, 786,528 Filipinos have been fully vaccinated, still far from the government’s target of inoculating 58 million to achieve herd immunity. Meanwhile, 2.5 million have received their first dose.