Pulse Asia: Majority of Filipinos concerned about safety of COVID-19 vaccines

MANILA, Philippines — Many Filipinos said they do not want to be inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccine due to safety concerns, the latest Pulse Asia survey released Thursday showed.

Almost half or 47 percent of Filipinos said they will not get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Only 32 percent showed a willingness to receive the vaccine while 21 percent are still undecided.

In terms of location, 55 percent of the respondents in the Visayas showed disinterest in the COVID-19 vaccine;  48 percent were from Mindanao;  46 percent from Balance Luzon;  and 41 percent from the National Capital Region (NCR).

For socio-economic class, the percentage of Filipinos who said they do not want a jab of the vaccine was 56 percent in Class E, 46 percent in CLass D, and 43 percent in Class ABC.

The survey noted that the main reason why most respondents expressed disinterest in getting inoculated is due to safety concerns. Around 84 percent said they are concerned about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines.

Seven percent of the respondents who are against being vaccinated are worried that the vaccine might not be free. Around five percent believed that inoculation is not necessary to combat COVID-19, and four percent said that the vaccines might be expensive.

This nationwide survey is based on a sample of 2,400 representative adults 18 years old and above. It has a ± 2% error margin at the 95% confidence level.

The survey fieldwork was conducted from November 23 to December 2 using face-to-face interviews.

A separate survey conducted by OCTA Research released on Wednesday found that only one out of four or 25% of respondents in the National Capital Region (NCR) are willing to get inoculated if there are already available COVID-19 vaccine in the country.

/MUF