Fears, uncertainties over vaccination

VACCINES have become a matter of great concern among the Filipino people. Their concerns range from sufficiency of supply for the nation’s 110-million population to the safety of the vaccines already in the country.

Many other countries have begun the mass vaccination of their people, notably the United States and the United Kingdom. By the middle of last January, 42 countries had already started their vaccination programs, the World Health Organization (WHO) disclosed – 36 high-income nations and six middle-income ones. The European Union said it has more than enough for the entire population of Europe.

In the middle of January, the World Health Organization said 50 percent of the world’s high-income countries had begun mass-vaccinating their populations – versus zero percent of the low-income countries.

It was to meet this problem of uneven distribution of the world’s vaccines that the WHO organized the COVAX Facility as a global initiative together with the Gavi Vaccine Alliance and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. The program will start distributing its initial 337.2 million doses late this month.

The initial vaccine supplies will go to India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Indonesia, Brazil, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mexico, the Philippines, and Egypt. In the next group, which will receive its vaccines at the end of March, are Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cape Verde, El Salvador, Georgia, Maldives, Moldova, Mongolia, Palestinian Territories, Rwanda, and Tunisia.

COVAX aims to secure enough vaccines for at least the most vulnerable 20 percent of the participating countries by the end of 2021. Without this WHO initiative, so many of the world’s nations would not have the means to vaccinate a substantial part of their populations. The WHO program is also is also in accordance with the fact that as long as the virus is rampant in any part of the planet, the entire world remains in danger of re-infection.

Against this very positive development on COVID-19 vaccines is the finding of a recent survey that many Filipinos are concerned about fake vaccines. This concern was voiced by 98 percent of the 15,651 respondents in a survey conducted by a research team of the University of Santo Tomas.

The survey had 92.7 percent concerned by possible side effects of vaccines; 91.7 percent concerned about safety; 84.5 percent concerned that they may not be effective against other variants of the COVID-19 virus now appearing in various parts of the globe; 83.5 percent concerned that the vaccines were not tested properly; 82.3 percent concerned they were made at high cost; and 80.2 percent that they were made too quickly.

Among the survey respondents, 55.9 percent said they will definitely or probably take the vaccine when it becomes available while 44.1 percent said they were unsure or were not inclined to receive it.

The survey, while not reflective of the entire national population, was described as providing a snapshot of a significant fraction of the Filipino population as a whole. It reflects uncertainty that the government must take into consideration as it draws up its plans for mass vaccination all over the land.