Malacañang is encouraged by a recent study showing that coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine hesitancy among adult Filipinos has dropped to just five percent.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles made the statement after the results of the OCTA Research December 2021 Tugon ng Masa National Survey showed that aside from the drop in vaccine hesitancy, only two percent of adult Filipinos contracted COVID-19 after being fully vaccinated.
In a statement on Thursday, January 27, Nograles said the Palace is encouraged by the report as this was proof that the COVID-19 vaccines are effective.
"This is incontrovertible evidence that COVID-19 vaccines protect us, our loved ones, and our communities from the virus," he said.
"It also emphasizes that vaccination is a step towards the right direction in our efforts to restore normalcy," he added.
As of January 26, 2022, the country has administered a total of 125,089,118 vaccine doses with more than 58.1 million Filipinos being fully vaccinated.
With these results, Nograles said the government will continue exploring options to make the vaccines more accessible to the public to reach the target of inoculating 90 million Filipinos by the end of President Duterte's term.
The government recently launched the Resbakuna sa Botika Drive and the We Vax as One Mobile Vaccination Drive for Transport Workers in an attempt to vaccinate more people.
This month, Nograles said that the government is targeting vaccinating 77 million adults before the May 2022 polls. If this will not be reached by the end of the first quarter, he said they will be considering holding another mass vaccination or the nationwide Bayanihan, Bakunahan program.
Meanwhile, Malacañang called on local leaders of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) to step up efforts to vaccinate their constituents following reports that Muslim communities are resisting the vaccine.