MANILA, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Filipinos prefer Chinese drugmaker Sinovac Biotech's CoronaVac vaccine over other COVID-19 vaccines, according to an independent poll released on Monday.
A nationwide survey, conducted by Social Weather Station (SWS) from April 28 to May 2, found that 39 percent of the 1,200 adult Filipinos said they prefer the COVID-19 vaccine made by Sinovac Biotech.
The SWS said the respondents were provided with a list of 10 vaccines at random order and were allowed to choose more than one.
"The survey found Sinovac Biotech and Pfizer-BioNTech topping the list of preferred brands at 39 percent and 33 percent, respectively," the SWS said in a statement, adding Oxford-AstraZeneca at 22 percent and Johnson & Johnson at 10 percent.
Sinovac Biotech is the most preferred brand in Mindanao (44 percent) and the Visayas (44 percent). On the other hand, Sinovac Biotech and Pfizer-BioNTech are equally preferred in Metro Manila (both at 37 percent), added the statement.
At the time of the survey, the Philippines has received over 7 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines in which most are Sinovac vaccines. China donated the first batch of Sinovac CoronaVac to the Philippines on Feb. 28, allowing the Southeast Asian country to kick off its vaccination drive on March 1.
The Philippines reported a total of 1,184,706 COVID-19 cases as of Monday, including 19,983 deaths.