There has been an increase in the number of Filipinos who are unwilling to get vaccinated against coronavirus disease (COVID-19), according to the results of a survey conducted by OCTA Research.
Out of the 1,200 Filipino adult respondents, 22 percent said they will not have themselves vaccinated, based on the results of OCTA’s “Tugon ng Masa” poll which was conducted from Sept. 11 to 16.
This was an increase of 5 percent in comparison to the results of the July 2021 survey which showed that 16 percent of the respondents were unwilling to have themselves inoculated, OCTA fellow Professor Ranjit Rye said.
“Majority of Filipinos still want to get themselves vaccinated but the number of people who are unwilling to get vaccinated has increased from quarter 2 to quarter 3,” Rye said in a virtual press briefing on Thursday, Nov. 11.
Some 61 percent of the respondents said they are willing to be vaccinated or have already been inoculated, a 5 percentage points drop from the July survey.
On the other hand, those undecided on having themselves vaccinated remained at 18 percent.
Unwillingness highest in Visayas
Visayas saw the highest percentage of respondents who indicated that they will not have themselves inoculated at 32 percent, an increase of 5 percent.
Unwillingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccines was at 24 percent in Balanced Luzon, 19 percent in Mindanao, and 5 percent in the National Capital Region (NCR).
Meanwhile, the number of people willing to get vaccinated was highest in Metro Manila at 93 percent, followed by Mindanao at 71 percent, Balanced Luzon at 51 percent, and Visayas at 47 percent.
Reasons behind vaccine hesitancy
The poll results showed that 65 percent of those who are unwilling to get themselves inoculated said they were not sure if the vaccine is safe, while 14 said they are not sure if the vaccine is effective.
Some 9 percent have cited their pre-existing conditions as the reason behind their unwillingness to get the jab.
Rye noted that 7 percent of those unwilling who have indicated that a vaccine is not needed to combat COVID-19.
He also pointed out that 5 percent of those unwilling respondents have stated that the vaccine could cause death.
“There is a great need for the Department of Health to ramp up its information campaign, and maybe for the private sector to support that campaign, to help inform our citizens about the need to have themselves vaccinated,” Rye said.