An online survey conducted by the Department of Health (DOH) showed that concerns on adverse events following immunization as one of the reasons why some people are hesitant to get vaccinated against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
"The top three reasons why they are hesitant in being inoculated is the possible effect on their body or adverse events. Second, it's because of this negative information that they hear circulating especially from social media platforms. Third, they don't think that these vaccines are effective," Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in an online forum Monday, May 31.
She did not say when the survey was conducted except that it had more than 43,000 respondents.
To help encourage the public get inoculated, Vergeire said, experts talk about the safety and efficacy of the vaccines and also explain the adverse event.
"I'd just like to inform the public that the adverse events were mostly non-serious. It means these are the common effects of the vaccine which is really natural or normal,"she said.
"The non- serious adverse events that we have as of now, out of all of those vaccinated is just 1.10 percent of those 5.1 million Filipinos already vaccinated. A small percentage," added Vergeire.
"When we talk about serious side effects or adverse events its .014. It's very small, rare and until now there is no proof that these serious or those who died after being vaccinated had been caused by the vaccine," she said.
Data from the DOH and the National Task Force Against COVID-19 showed that of the 5.1 million doses already administered, 3,974,350 were first doses, and 1,206,371 were second doses as of May 30.
"This equates to over one million people that have been given the full protection of the COVID-19 vaccines," it said in the vaccination rollout update.