A little over half of Filipinos are hopeful that the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis in the country will end this year, according to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey results released on Friday, Feb. 11.

In the nationwide survey conducted from Dec. 12 to 16, 2021 with 1,440 respondents, 51 percent are expecting the COVID-19 crisis to end within 2022--consisting of 29 percent saying the crisis will end within six months and 23 percent saying within one year--and 45 percent expecting it to end after 2022.

"The percentage of those expecting the COVID-19 crisis to end within the year 2022 is highest in Mindanao at 62 percent (39 percent within six months, 24 percent within one year, correctly rounded), followed by Balance Luzon at 51 percent (29 percent within six months, 22 percent within one year), Metro Manila at 49 percent (26 percent within six months, 23 percent within one year), and the Visayas at 41 percent (19 percent within six months, 22 percent within one year)," SWS said in a statement.

During the same survey period, SWS also asked the respondents about their perception of the statement, "It is only right to enact into law the proposal of President Duterte to compel all Filipinos to get vaccinated against COVID-19."

Fifty-one percent agreed, consisting of 29 percent who strongly agreed and 22 percent who somewhat agreed; 17 percent were undecided; and 31 percent disagreed, consisting of 13 percent who somewhat disagreed and 19 percent who strongly disagreed.

This translated to a net agreement score of +20 (percentage of those who agreed minus percentage of those who disagreed), which is classified by SWS as "moderate."

"Net agreement with a proposed vaccine mandate for everyone is highest in Metro Manila at strong +30 (62 percent agree, 32 percent disagree). At the same time, it is moderate in Balance Luzon at +28 (54 percent agree, 26 percent disagree) and Mindanao at +23 (49 percent agree, 26 percent disagree)," SWS said.

"However, it is poor in the Visayas at -10 (40 percent agree, 50 percent disagree)," it pointed out.

To the test statement, "It is only right that unvaccinated employees are not allowed to report for work until they give a negative RT-PCR test result every two weeks," 51 percent agreed, consisting of 27 percent who strongly agreed and 24 percent who somewhat agreed; 14 percent were undecided; and 35 percent disagreed, consisting of 15 percent who somewhat disagreed, 20 percent who strongly disagreed, for a moderate net agreement of +16.

"Net agreement with a proposed biweekly RT-PCR testing for unvaccinated employees is highest in Balance Luzon at moderate +29 (58 percent agree, 29 percent disagree), followed by Metro Manila at moderate +12 (51 percent agree, 39 percent disagree, correctly rounded), and Mindanao at moderate +16 (46 percent agree, 31 percent disagree, correctly rounded)," SWS said.

"However, it is poor in the Visayas at -13 (40 percent agree, 53 percent disagree)," it added.