23% Filipinos refuse to take booster jabs, finds survey

MANILA: Twenty three per cent of inoculated Filipinos have refused to take their coronavirus (COVID-19) booster jabs for various concerns, including the safety of the vaccines, according to a survey conducted by the independent OCTA research group.

However, Ranjit Rye, an OCTA fellow, pointed out that in the same survey, conducted from April 22 and 25, a bigger 70 per cent of the respondents said they were willing to take the boosters.

“The willingness for them to get boosters is high – around seven out of 10 Filipinos,” Rye told a media briefing in a mix of Filipino and English.

“That’s 70 per cent of adult Filipinos who had taken the vaccine and said they were willing to take the booster shots.”

But, the same time, some of those who refused to take the boosters expressed worry over the safety of the vaccines, Rye said.

He added the others said that since they were already vaccinated, they saw no need for a third dose because they already felt safe from the virus.

In this light, Rye cited the urgent need for the government and experts to launch a campaign to convince the fully vaccinated individuals to take their boosters.

Earlier, experts warned that the efficacy of vaccines would wane in three to five months.

As such, experts stressed the need for booster jabs to provide added protection to those already vaccinated.

Recently, the Department of Health (DOH) launched a campaign whose main target was to give third boosters to about 700,000 frontliners and senior citizens with comorbidities (ailments like cancer, diabetes and hypertension).

But Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje, the head of the National Vaccination Operations centre, admited they were also experiencing the low rate among those willing to take the boosters.

Apparently determined to pursue the campaign, Cabotaje disclosed they were seriously studying the possibility of bringing the vaccination sites to the voting centers in the May 9 national elections.