Only 25% of Metro Manila respondents willing to get COVID-19 jabs — survey
MANILA, Philippines — Only one in four residents of Metro Manila are willing to be immunized against COVID-19 when vaccines become available in the country, a survey of the OCTA Research suggested.
Results of the OCTA Research’s survey released Tuesday showed that out of the 600 respondents in the capital region, only 25% said they are willing to receive COVID-19 jabs if a safe and effective vaccine becomes available.
Forty-seven percent of respondents aged 18 and above indicated that they were not able to decide if they would have themselves vaccinated. The remaining 28% said they would not get COVID-19 vaccine shots.
Survey results showed that those who were more inclined to be vaccinated were from classes ABC (29%) or the upper-income and middle-income classes. They were followed by those from class E (27%) and class D (24%).
Meanwhile, 31% of those who expressed unwillingness to be vaccinated were from class E (31%), followed by those from class D. Of the respondents unable to decide, 52% came from classes ABC, while 48% from class D.
The poll was conducted from December 9 to 13 using face-to-face interviews. It has a sampling error margin of ±4%.
A Social Weather Stations survey released in November last year found out that 66% of adult Filipinos expressed willingness to get inoculated against COVID-19. Thirty-one percent, meanwhile, were unwilling to get immunized against COVID-19.
The SWS poll showed that willingness to get COVID-19 was highest in Mindanao (73%), followed by Visayas (69%), Metro Manila (64%) and Balance Luzon (61%).
The government faces the difficult task of conducting a COVID-19 vaccination campaign, which relies heavily on public trust that vaccines are both effective and safe, as it re-establishes trust in immunization two years after the highly-politicized Dengvaxia controversy.
In November last year, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the agency was preparing an information drive that would explain vaccination to the public and counter false claims about COVID-19 vaccines.
The inoculation of 24.7 million Filipinos in the first part of the vaccination program against COVID-19 is set this year. Officials said that a vaccine may be available in the Philippines by March.
Government’s COVID-19 response
The same OCTA Research survey found that 81% of respondents from Metro Manila approve of the national government’s response to contain the spread of COVID-19.
Twelve percent of the respondents said they were unsure of the government’s response, while 6% said they were dissatisfied.
Metro Manila, which accounts for 44% of the country’s confirmed infections, remains under general community quarantine until end-January.
The Philippines has so far recorded 478,761 COVID-19 cases, including 9,263 deaths.
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