51% Filipinos now trust vaccines — survey
THE Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) welcomed the increase in vaccine confidence of adult Filipinos to 51 percent based on the latest survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS).
DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya noted that this was a significant improvement from as low as 32% last year.
“We can confirm this in the 3,688 vaccination centers where vaccinations are going strong and our A2 and A3 vaccinees are trooping to the vaccination centers with the help of our barangay officials,” Malaya said.
He added that the key in the increase in vaccine confidence was the concerted efforts of both the national and local governments, the medical community, and other stakeholders to educate and inform the public on the benefits of vaccination and why it’s important to the government’s overall strategy to end the pandemic.
“The increase in vaccine confidence is also confirmed by our daily vaccinations which have reached 229,600 vaccinations a day nationwide. Our seven-day moving average of vaccinated individuals has increased to 108,540 as of May 18, a marked improvement from 67,780 as of May 11,” he explained.
Malaya said to be able to continue the positive trend, local government units (LGUs) need to increase social mobilization in the barangays.
“We are urging barangays to conduct more house-to-house or mobile registration to assist people with no internet connection or with no gadgets so that they can register,” he said.
To continue this upward trend, Malaya said the LGUs can tap the Homeowners Associations and other community-based organizations to help in the education and registration campaign.
As part of the intensified information and education campaign, LGUs also need to organize more vaccination town hall meetings featuring doctors and other medical experts to speak about the benefits of vaccination.
“LGUs may tap their local medical associations for the conduct of these town hall meetings where doctors and other influencers can speak about vaccination,” he said. By Joel de Leon
