More than half of 63 percent of Filipinos preferred to receive COVID-19 vaccines manufactured in the United States, the latest Social Weather Stations survey showed.
In the survey conducted from April 28 to May 2, SWS found that the US-dominated the list for preferred sources of vaccines, followed by China at 19 percent; Japan, Australia, and United Kingdom at 13 percent each; and Canada and Russia at 12 percent each.
The survey also found Sinovac Biotech and Pfizer-BioNTech topping the list of preferred brands at 39 percent and 33 percent, respectively.
At the time of the survey, over 7 million COVID-19 vaccines from Sinovac, AstraZeneca, and Gamaleya have been delivered to the Philippines. The first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech jabs arrived a week after the survey on May 10.
Malacañang on Monday said the proposed infomercial that will feature President Rodrigo Duterte and Vice President Leni Robredo will no longer push through.
“The most effective campaign against COVID-19 is the ‘Mask, Hugas, Iwas’ that features the President at the end of the video,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said.
Roque said Robredo should first clarify her position on vaccines, claiming she was initially hesitant about Chinese brands.
The Department of Health has rejected a proposal by independent OCTA Research Group to allocate 60 percent of vaccines to the National Capital Region, Calabarzon and Central Luzon.
“We think this is not possible because we also have to give attention to other regions,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said.
Vergeire said the department is monitoring surges in Zamboanga, Baguio, and General Santos even as Metro Manila remains the epicenter of the pandemic in the country.
** Half ruled insert: 40m Pfizer doses arriving in Q3
Some 40 million doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines are expected to arrive in the third quarter of the year, the DOH said.
Vergeire said aside from the Pfizer jabs which the government bought, some 2.2 million doses of the same brand from the COVAX Facility will also arrive in the coming months.
Pfizer, which is administered in two doses 21 days apart, has a 95 percent efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19.