WHO country representative Rabindra Abeyasinghe (File photo)
MANILA – A World Health Organization official on Monday said the international agency does not see a lot of vaccine hesitancy in the Philippines.
“Right now, we don’t see a lot of vaccine hesitancy in the Philippines. We know that the Philippines has traditionally had some vaccine hesitancy,” WHO country representative Rabindra Abeyasinghe said in a televised public briefing.
Abeyasinghe was reacting to reports that many Filipinos are hesitant to get vaccinated against Covid-19 because they do not have confidence in how the government, together with its vaccine experts and panel evaluated the efficacy and safety of Covid-19 vaccines used in the country.
“Actually, the issue is that the vaccine supply cannot meet the demand… What we are seeing now is that people eagerly ready to receive vaccines and it is in some situations, local governments unable to keep up with the demand,” he said.
Citing that some Filipinos prefer one vaccine brand over the other, Abeyasinghe emphasized that vaccine brand preference should not be interpreted as vaccine hesitancy.
As for not announcing the vaccine brand during vaccine promotion, Abeyansinghe said it might be the correct strategy to prevent people from “congregating and creating situations where transmission may increase”.
“We continue to say that all vaccines are effective to prevent deaths and prevent severe disease, so it doesn’t actually matter which vaccine you’re receiving,” he added.
On May 20, a non-commissioned Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed that only 32 percent of adult Filipinos are willing to receive free Covid-19 vaccine earlier approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
The survey ran from April 28 to May 2, 2021. (PNA)
