SWS survey: More than half of unvaccinated Filipinos still reject COVID jabs
FILE PHOTO: A nurse fills up a syringe with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine in this file photo taken in 2022. REUTERS
MANILA, Philippines — More than three years since the first coronavirus case was detected in the country, 69 percent of unvaccinated Filipinos remain unwilling to get inoculated against COVID-19, according to the poll results released by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) on Thursday.
The survey, conducted via face-to-face interviews from Dec. 10, 2022, to Dec. 14, 2022, found that 13 percent of its 1,200 respondents were unvaccinated adult Filipinos–with only 12 percent willing to get their jabs, while 69 percent expressed reluctance and the remaining 19 percent were undecided.
The SWS said 87 percent or around 62.6 million of its respondents have been vaccinated, but this “hardly moved” between April 2022 to December 2022.
Among the respondents vaccinated with at least one dose, 44 percent were unwilling to have booster shots, while 32 percent were inclined to get it.
Meanwhile, the willingness to get a second booster shot was higher among those who received their third vaccine dose with 55 percent, compared to the 32 percent who said they were unwilling.
The Department of Health (DOH) earlier revealed that the country’s COVID-19 vaccine wastage might reach 50 million doses by the end of March.
This figure, it noted, may further increase due to vaccine hesitancy.
According to the latest DOH data, around 79.17 million Filipinos are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
But only about 24.18 million of the eligible population have received their booster shot.
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