Zamboanga City survey: 47% shun COVID-19 vaccination

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Forty seven percent of over 1,000 city residents surveyed last month said they are not willing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, one year after the pandemic broke out.

In a survey of 1,384 respondents from 87 barangays here conducted by the City Planning and Development Office from Feb. 15 to 26, 47 percent said they would shun vaccination while 37 percent would wait for positive effects of the vaccine on others before deciding to be vaccinated.

Only five percent said they are willing to be vaccinated without conditions, another five percent said they will only receive a preferred vaccine brand, while seven percent said they will receive it if its free.

In the survey, there is only a slight difference in opinion between respondents in the rural and urban areas, and between men and women.

Those in the lower income classes (49 percent) and those who only finished elementary school  (50 percent) are more distrustful of vaccination, the survey said.

Pfizer, which is manufactured by an American company, is the preferred vaccine brand among those who will readily take the shots and those on wait-and-see mode.

City health officer Dulce Miravite even said that the local government has already closed several isolation facilities, an indication of the declining number of COVID-19 cases in the city.

As of March 19, 2021, the city only has 39 active cases.

 gsg