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Sinovac, Pfizer 'most chosen' vaccine brands among Filipinos -- SWS poll
Sinovac, Pfizer 'most chosen' vaccine brands among Filipinos -- SWS poll
The Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey results released on Monday, May 24, found that at least three in 10 Filipinos prefer Sinovac and Pfizer as their brand of vaccines.
During the survey conducted from April 28 to May 2, 2021, SWS asked 1,200 adult respondents, "If you could choose the brand of vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration of the Philippines, which of the following would you choose?"
Respondents were provided with a list of 10 FDA-approved vaccines, presented in random order, and were allowed to choose more than one.
Topping the list were China's Sinovac Biotech (39 percent) and US brand Pfizer-BioNTech (32 percent), followed by United Kingdom's Oxford-AstraZeneca (22 percent), and US brand Johnson & Johnson (10 percent).
The rest obtained single-digit scores: Moderna (7 percent), CureVac (3 percent), Sinopharm (3 percent), Novavax (3 percent), Sanofi-GSK (3 percent), and Gamaleya (2 percent).
Two percent chose all 10 brands, while 19 percent did not answer.
SWS noted that at the time of the survey, over 7 million COVID-19 vaccines have been delivered to the Philippines.
Most of these vaccines were Sinovac (about 5 million), followed by Oxford-AstraZeneca (about 2.5 million) and Gamaleya Sputnik (about 30,000).
The first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech (around 193,000) arrived a week after the survey on May 10.
Most prefer US as source of vaccines
During the same survey period, SWS asked the respondents, "If you could choose the country of origin of the vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration of the Philippines, which of the following would you choose?"
Respondents were shown 10 origins in random order and were allowed more than one answer.
SWS found that 63 percent of Filipinos chose the United States as their preferred source of COVID-19 vaccines.
It was distantly followed by China (19 percent), Japan (13 percent), Australia (13 percent), United Kingdom (13 percent), Canada (12 percent), and Russia (12 percent).
Obtaining single-digit scores were Germany (8 percent), Korea (6 percent), and India (3 percent).
Meanwhile, two percent chose all 10 countries, while 12 percent did not answer.
SWS pointed out that 76 percent of those who chose China as their preferred source of the vaccine also chose Sinovac Biotech as their brand.
However, Pfizer-BioNTech (43 percent) and Sinovac Biotech (41 percent) are equally chosen by those who prefer the US as the country of origin.
At the same time, Oxford-AstraZeneca obtained its highest preference score among those who chose the United Kingdom.
US most preferred vaccine source in all areas
SWS said the United States is the most preferred source of vaccines in all areas--66 percent in the Visayas, 65 percent in Balance Luzon, 63 percent in Metro Manila, and 54 percent in Mindanao.
Meanwhile, Sinovac Biotech is the most preferred brand in Mindanao (44 percent) and the Visayas (44 percent).
Sinovac Biotech and Pfizer-BioNTech, on the other hand, were equally preferred in Metro Manila (both at 37 percent) and Balance Luzon (36 percent and 33 percent, respectively).