COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in PH continues to drop — SWS

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MANILA, Philippines — Skepticism regarding COVID-19 vaccines has continued to wane down according to a latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, as only eight percent of adult Filipinos expressed hesitancy over immunization compared to 18 percent in September 2021.

According to SWS, the survey which was done from December 12 to 16, 2021, showed that from the eight percent who were unwilling to take COVID-19 vaccines, one percent said that they “probably” would not get the shots while seven percent said “surely not.”

In terms of uncertainty, the latest survey showed that only six percent have admitted being uncertain about getting vaccinated, compared to the 19 percent in September 21; 24 percent in June 2021; and 35 percent in May 2021.

Also, the number of people who got vaccinated increased from SWS’ past surveys.

“On the other hand, the December survey found 50% of adults reporting they got at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. This total consists of 38% reporting they received two doses of the vaccine and 13% reporting they received one dose, correctly rounded,” SWS noted.

“The percentage of those reporting they got at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine has steadily increased from 10% (3% two doses, 7% one dose) in June 2021 and 35% (25% two doses, 10% one dose) in September 2021,” it added.

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Among those not yet vaccinated, 35 percent said that they are willing to get vaccinated — or 33 percent saying that “they will surely get vaccinated” while the remaining three percent saying that “they will probably get vaccinated”.

As of January 11, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said that 52.4 million Filipinos have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, or 68 percent of the target population in the country.

There are also 61,902,516 who have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccines, or 80.25 percent of the target population; 3,327,417 individuals on the other hand have received their booster shots.

In terms of locale, SWS found out that vaccine hesitancy fell in all areas, with the largest drop coming from Mindanao, as 25 percent of the respondents last September 2021 said they were unwilling to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Now, only eight percent of the respondents said they were unwilling — a 17 percentage point decrease.

Vaccine hesitancy dropped by nine percentage points in Visayas, from 24 percent in September 2021 to 15 percent in December; and seven percentage points in Luzon, from 15 percent in September 2021 to eight percent in December.

Metro Manila registered the lowest vaccine hesitancy drop, from seven percent in September 2021 to four percent in December.

“On the other hand, the percentage of those reporting they received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine rose in all areas. It rose in Metro Manila, up from 71% (61% two doses, 10% one dose) to 81% (75% two doses, 6% one dose),” SWS said.

“It rose in Balance Luzon, up from 36% (22% two doses, 13% one dose, correctly rounded) to 52% (39% two doses, 13% one dose).  It rose in the Visayas, up from 21% (15% two doses, 6% one dose) to 37% (27% two doses, 10% one dose).  It also rose in Mindanao, up from 25% (16% two doses, 8% one dose, correctly rounded) to 40% (22% two doses, 18% one dose),” it added.

SWS said it conducted the survey through face-to-face interviews of 1,440 adults, subdivided into 360 each for Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao.

According to the firm, it is maintaining sampling error margins of ±2.6% for national percentages, and ±5.2% for Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao.

Vaccination is seen as an important tool in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, especially with the Omicron variant spurring a quick transmission of the disease.  Recently, the country saw a sharp uptick in cases, from just 56,561 active cases last January 6 to 275,364 on Wednesday.

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