SWS poll finds fewer Pinoys unwilling to get COVID jabs

INQUIRER PHOTO

Vaccine skepticism amid the pandemic dropped by 10 percentage points since the third quarter, according to a fourth quarter poll by Social Weather Stations (SWS) released on Thursday afternoon.

The survey, conducted via face-to-face interviews from Dec. 12, 2021 to Dec. 16, 2021, found only 8 percent of adult Filipinos saying they were unwilling to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

SWS said this was “down from the 18 [percent] in September 2021,” whereas that figure also declined from 21 percent in June and 33 percent in May, the polling group noted.

Of the 8 percent, 7 percent said they were “surely not” and 1 percent said they were “probably not” going to be vaccinated.

SWS also found only 6 percent saying they were uncertain about getting inoculated—also a considerable drop from 19 percent in September, 24 percent in June and 35 percent in May last year.

Skepticism dropped

Among the unvaccinated respondents, 35 percent were willing to get the COVID-19 jabs, of which 33 percent said they will “surely get vaccinated” and 3 percent said they will “probably get vaccinated.”

According to the survey, 50 percent of the respondents said they had received at least one dose—a steady increase from the 35 percent in September and 10 percent in June last year.

The percentage of those unwilling to be vaccinated fell in all geographical areas between September and December, from 7 percent to 4 percent in Metro Manila, 15 percent to 8 percent in Luzon outside Metro Manila, 24 percent to 15 percent in the Visayas and 25 percent to 8 percent in Mindanao.

Among the unvaccinated, those willing to get the jabs rose in Luzon outside Metro Manila (from 29 percent in September to 35 percent in December), Mindanao (29 percent to 46 percent) and the Visayas (35 percent to 38 percent), but fell slightly in Metro Manila (16 percent to 13 percent).

Vaccine skepticism also dropped in all educational levels and age groups.

The survey was conducted among 1,440 adult respondents and had a sampling margin of error of plus-or-minus 2.6 percent for national percentages, and plus-or-minus 5.2 percent for all geographical areas.

Booster rollout

Meanwhile, the government may expand the distribution of booster shots in pharmacies and clinics outside Metro Manila by next week, after the National Task Force Against COVID-19 (NTF) described as “very successful” the turnout of the vaccination drive in the capital region on Thursday.

A total of 422 jabs were administered that day in four pharmacies selected for the NTF’s “Resbakuna sa Botika” inoculation drive, according to the chief implementer of the task force, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr.

‘Beyond expected number’

The NTF tally showed that Mercury Drug administered 80 doses in a store in Manila; Watsons, 100 in a branch in Taguig; Generika, 110 also in Taguig; and Southstar Drug, 172 in Marikina.

“We were only eyeing 50 to 100 per pharmacy, but they all went beyond the expected number,” Galvez told reporters in Makati on Friday as they witnessed the booster rollout conducted by QualiMed Clinic at the corner of McKinley Road and the Edsa beltway.

“This is a good sign that the rollout will be good in the coming days,” he said.

Besides QualiMed, Healthway clinics in Manila and Generics Pharmacy outlets in Parañaque also took part in Friday’s vaccination effort.

Slow pace

Galvez said each of the participating drug stores or clinics would now be given a maximum of 500 doses per day “to avoid wastage and for safety reasons.”

But as they become more accustomed to administering the shots, their daily allocation could be raised to 1,000 doses, he added.

Although he saw the Resbakuna sa Botika program as being off to a good start, Galvez also acknowledged the slow pace in the nationwide rollout of booster shots.

He said at least 500,000 doses must be administered daily for the government to achieve soon enough its target of 72.16 million of the country’s population.

But since Nov. 17 last year, only an average of 267,000 jabs have been administered daily, according to the NTF.

“With the Omicron surge, many of our health workers have been infected with COVID-19. We need additional manpower,” Galvez said. —DEXTER CABALZA AND INQUIRER RESEARCH