Transparency key to vaccine acceptance, says mayor of city where only 53% of people agree to be injected

BORONGAN CITY—Borongan City Mayor Jose Ivan Agda said transparency was key to boosting confidence among city residents on the safety and efficacy of coronavirus vaccines amid results of a survey showing only a little more than half of the city’s population agreed to be vaccinated.

“Everything must be known, transparency is the word, from the results of clinical trials to procurement, procedures and all,” he said.

Agda said the city government is targeting 80 percent of its constituents to be inoculated with the vaccine to achieve herd immunity.

But a face-to-face survey in the city center showed that only 53 percent were willing to be vaccinated.

The city government would launch an education campaign with local medical experts to further explain the vaccination plan.

The mayor said he had originally negotiated with manufacturers of the vaccine made by British pharmaceutical AstraZeneca.

He said the AstraZeneca vaccine has a high efficacy rate and could be kept in an ordinary refrigerator.

The city government last January allotted P35 million for the vaccines.

TSB