Philippine vaccine hesitancy drops as safety concerns ebb, poll shows

Philippine vaccine hesitancy drops as safety concerns ebb, poll shows The number of Filipinos willing to get inoculated against the coronavirus rose to 43% in June from just 16% in February, an opinion poll showed on Monday, as concerns over the safety of vaccines eased. Reuters Staff U.S.

MANILA (Reuters) - The number of Filipinos willing to get inoculated against the coronavirus rose to 43% in June from just 16% in February, an opinion poll showed on Monday, as concerns over the safety of vaccines eased.

The Pulse Asia survey of 2,400 respondents took place from June 7 to 16, more than three months after the Philippines began its vaccination drive on March 1.

So far, nearly 9.7 million people have been given at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 3.5 million have been fully vaccinated, about 3.2 % of the 110 population. ...

The Philippines has in recent years had difficulty in combating mistrust in government-issued vaccines over concern about a dengue vaccine.

But according to government data, of the first 6.2 million COVID-19 vaccine recipients, only 0.6% reported an adverse reaction and only 65 infections were reported among recipients of two doses, with no deaths.

With more than 1.47 million infections and over 5,200 deaths, the Philippines has one of the highest coronavirus caseloads in Asia.