About seven of 10 Filipinos will consider the safety of whatever coronavirus vaccine available before deciding to be vaccinated, showed a survey done by Church-run Radio Veritas 846.
The survey results, which were released on January 26, noted that 67 percent of respondents answered “safety” when asked about their “primary consideration” when deciding whether or not to be vaccinated.
Consideration of the vaccine’s efficacy followed at 17 percent, then country of manufacture at eight percent, and testimony of early users at six percent.
“Reported side effects in mainstream media and other online sources coupled with our country’s past social experiences on the use of vaccines might have contributed to the results of this survey,” Veritas 846 said in a statement.
Brother Clifford Sorita, head of the survey team, said the government should provide the public with easily understandable information to ensure that people’s “concerns” are addressed.
“Our government should take a unified leadership role to improve trust around the vaccine,” he said, adding that issues surrounding the vaccination plan must be minimized.
Father Anton Pascual, president of Radio Veritas 846, said the government’s vaccination initiatives must prioritize those who are most in need.
“Vaccines must not be allocated first to those who are wealthy, powerful, and influential for such would be a great moral and social tragedy,” said the priest.
Conducted from Jan. 4 to 22, 2021, the online survey used a stratified sample of 1,200 respondents nationwide for a +/- 3% margin of error.
Last month, the country’s Catholic bishops called for prudence on the issue of the new COVID-19 vaccine.
“We need prudence too as to whether it is really the right medicine or the right time to administer it,” said Bishop Oscar Florencio, vice chairman of the Episcopal Commission on Health Care of the bishops’ conference, in a statement.
The prelate said the dignity of a person should be given paramount importance when dealing with something that will affect their lives.
The Philippines aims to start immunizing 25 million people this year against the coronavirus, hoping to restore some normalcy after nearly nine months of at times harsh restrictions, and prevent the economy from sinking deeper into recession.
On Tuesday, January 26, the Philippines confirmed domestic transmission of the new, highly contagious British variant of the coronavirus.
“Right now, we have local transmission where this individual or these cases with the variant have already infected their community, their family,” said Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire in a television interview.
The new variant is reportedly more transmissible.
The Philippine health ministry said the B117 variant had spread among 12 people in Bontoc, a mountainous northern province, with 17 such cases in the country.
Its first case of the British variant was found in a Filipino who had travelled from the United Arab Emirates.
With nearly 515,000 coronavirus cases and more than 10,200 deaths, the Philippines is among the worst affected countries in Asia.
Source: Licas Philippines
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