Filipinos should not be “brand conscious” when it comes to vaccines against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) because all of them have been thoroughly evaluated by experts.
Dr. Lulu Bravo, executive director of the Philippine Foundation for Vaccination, made the statement in an interview over TeleRadyo on Saturday, May 22, amid the issue of announcing the brands of the vaccines to be used in the vaccination sites.
“Maski anong kunin mo, hindi ka naman talaga sigurado na ‘yun talaga ang masasabing pinaka effective dito sa Pilipinas (No matter what vaccine you choose, you are not really sure that that is really the most effective here in the Philippines),” Bravo said.
“Nagiging brand conscious na tayo...hindi dapat ganun. Ang bakuna, buhay mo ang nakasalalay diyan. Buhay ang nakasalalay dito at 'yan ay pinag-usapan nang husto ng ating mga eksperto (We are becoming brand conscious... it shouldn't be like that. Your life depends on the vaccine. Your life depends on it and that has been reviewed a lot by our experts,” she added.
In a recently issued survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS), 51 percent of Filipino adults have indicated that they are “confident” of the government’s evaluation of the COVID-19 vaccines.
However, the nationwide poll results also showed that only 33 percent have expressed their willingness “willing” to get inoculated, while 35 percent are “uncertain”, and 33 percent are “unwilling” to get the jab.
Among those who are “unwilling” to be inoculated, 30 percent have responded that they afraid of the possible side effects of the vaccine.
The health expert believes that what the people read about the vaccines’ side effects and its differences from other jabs have fueled the public’s doubts of getting the vaccine.
“Lahat naman ng bakuna may side effects. Walang bakuna na walang kang sasabihing side effects (All vaccines have side effects. There is no vaccine that you can says that it has no side effect),” Bravo said.
“Hindi ‘yan dapat ang isipin nila. Mahalaga ang bakuna (That’s not what they should think. The vaccine is important),” she added.