More than a year into the pandemic, more Filipinos are now willing to get vaccinated against COVID-19, according to a survey released by the Octa Research group on Friday, October 22.

The survey showed that 61% or 6 in 10 Filipinos were willing to get vaccinated against the deadly virus when asked during the polling period.

The survey was conducted from September 11 to 16, when the country was experiencing a surge in COVID-19 infections driven by the highly transmissible COVID-19 Delta variant.

“This number includes the 36% of adult Filipino who were already vaccinated and the 24% of respondents who are willing to get vaccinated,”
the Octa team said.

NEWS UPDATE: 6 in 10 Filipinos are now willing to get vaccinated against COVID-19, Octa Research survey shows.

The survey was conducted from September 11 to 16 when the country was experiencing surge in infections driven by the highly-transmissible Delta. @rapplerdotcom pic.twitter.com/zSJyTUHJeP

— Bonz Magsambol (@bnzmagsambol) October 22, 2021

In July, a similar survey was done by Pulse Asia, which said that 4 in 10 or 43% of respondents would say “yes” to getting inoculated with a COVID-19 vaccine if the shot was available during the polling period.

However, the Octa Research survey also showed that 22% of adult Filipinos were not willing to be vaccinated during the survey period.

The group noted that vaccine hesitancy was highest in the Visayas at 32%, followed by Balance Luzon at 24% and Mindanao at 19%.

“Vaccine hesitancy is lowest in the NCR (National Capital Region) at 5%,” the Octa team said.

The group conducted face-to-face interviews with 1,200 Filipinos aged 18 years old and above for its survey fieldwork. The survey has a 95% confidence level with a ±2% margin of error. 

Safety

While the percentage of Filipinos willing to get vaccinated against COVID-19 significantly increased, safety concerns about the vaccine are the top reason why 65% of those unwilling don’t want to get the shots.

• Uncertainty about safety of vaccines – 14%
• Not sure if vaccines are effective – 9%
• COVID-19 vaccines are not needed to fight COVID-19 – 7%
• COVID-19 vaccines can cause death – 5%

TABLE FROM OCTA

According to pandemic task force officials, the country now has enough supply of the COVID-19 vaccines as the Philippines expanded coverage to the general adult population. The problem has now shifted to logistical challenges.

Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said that logistical challenges are hampering the rollout of doses from the regional level down to municipalities where vaccines are deployed.

“We notice that the deployment before arriving [in] vaccination sites takes more or less seven to eight or seven to nine days,” he said in Filipino. 

As of October 19, around 25.97% of the country’s population had received the first of two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. Around 22.41% of the population had received both jabs or single-dose vaccines.

Be updated with the Philippines’ COVID-19 vaccination drive through the trackers below.

– Rappler.com