Vaccine hesitancy drops nationwide; Visayas, Mindanao folks most hesitant — OCTA
MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos’ hesitancy with getting the COVID-19 vaccine has dropped tremendously nationwide, but those from Visayas and Mindanao remain to be the most vaccine hesitant, independent pandemic monitor Octa Research reported on Wednesday.
Octa Research, in its fourth quarter Tugon ng Masa survey conducted from December 7-12, revealed that only five percent of respondents remain unwilling to get immunized against the new coronavirus, which is a significant decline from the 22 percent vaccine hesitancy during the third quarter of 2021 from September 11-16.
This time, only six percent said they are still unsure if they will get vaccinated, compared to 18 percent in the last quarter.
“There is less resistance on adult Filipinos from getting vaccinated,” OCTA said in their report.
Of those who are vaccine hesitant, 94 percent are concerned about the safety of vaccines, 26 percent said they are “not sure” if it is effective, while 12 percent believe they need no vaccine to fight the virus.
Seven percent said they have pre-existing medical conditions which prevent them from having vaccines, while six percent said no vaccine is available in their cities and municipalities.
VisMin residents more vaccine hesitant
Meanwhile, vaccine hesitancy remains highest in Visayas and Mindanao where nine percent in Visayas and also nine percent in Mindanao remain skeptical of COVID-19 immunization.
However, the vaccine hesitancy in Visayas and Mindanao have also decreased in the fourth quarter in this survey compared to the previous one.
Back in September 2021, a whopping 31 percent of Visayas respondents said they will not get vaccinated, while 19 percent in Mindanao shared the same sentiment.
Meanwhile, three percent of respondents in Metro Manila and Balance Luzon also said they will not get the jabs.
Octa’s survey was conducted using face-to-face interviews with a sample size of 1200 respondents aged 18 and above, utilizing a sampling design that allows for a 95 percent level of confidence with a margin of error at ±3 percent.
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