Fear of Omicron variant, desire for mobility pushed people to get vaccine — expert

MANILA, Philippines — Fear of the Omicron variant and the desire to go out amid the pandemic have pushed people to get a COVID-19 vaccine, an expert said Tuesday.

“I think malaki ang ibinaba ng hesitancy ‘no (the hesitancy significantly decreased),” said Dr. Nina Gloriani, chairperson of the country’s Vaccination Expert Panel, during the Laging Handa public briefing.

“Ang malaking nakatulong siguro dito ay ‘yung fear din natin doon sa Omicron variant plus of course, ‘yung somehow ‘yung kagustuhan natin na mas maging mobile, na lumabas na at maging somehow normal na,” she explained.

READ: With public responding to Omicron threat, mobility in NCR comparable to Alert Level 4 — Octa

(A big factor may be our fear of the Omicron variant plus of course, our desire to be mobile, to go out, and somehow feel a sense of normalcy.)

The Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, triggered the country’s infections to balloon early this year.

Based on a survey conducted by independent analytics group Octa Research which was released in January, the vaccine hesitancy dropped across the country.

From 22 percent, Filipinos who remain unwilling to get immunized only stood at five percent.

Currently, around 61 million of the 77-million target population in the country are fully vaccinated against COVID-19

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