SWS: 80% of Filipinos expect COVID-19 vaccine, treatment by next year
MANILA, Philippines — Eighty percent of adult Filipinos believe that a vaccine against coronavirus disease will be available in the next 12 months, a Social Weather Stations survey suggested.
Vaccine development typically requires years but scientists across the world are racing to produce a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine by next year to end the pandemic that has gripped nations.
The SWS survey, conducted from September 17 to 20, found that 53% of the 1,249 respondents said the availability of a vaccine by next year will definitely happen and 53% think that it will probably happen.
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This is higher than the proportion of Americans who believe there will be a vaccine soon. A Pew Research Center poll found that 83% of American expect a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine will be available in the next year.
President Rodrigo Duterte, who hinted he would be the first to test the virus but has since dropped this as a talking point, repeatedly says in his pre-recorded messages that a vaccine will be released soon or is already available. He consistently praises China and Russia as potential sources of the vaccine.
Meanwhile, 12% of SWS respondents said the availability of a vaccine any time soon will probably not happen, while 5% said it will definitely not happen.
The Philippines aims to have at least 50 million COVID-19 vaccine doses next year to inoculate an initial target of 25 million people.
Due to high demand and supply limitations, the bulk of the vaccine shots will likely arrive by the end of 2021 or early 2022, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez said. But the “best case scenario,” Galvez said, is to have vaccines available between May and June next year—something which pharmaceutical firms believe was a long shot, but possible.
‘Temper expectations’
SWS found the proportion of those who expect the availability of a COVID-19 vaccine in the next 12 months was highest in outbreak epicenter Metro Manila (82%), followed by Balance Luzon (79%), Visayas (79%) and Mindanao (79%).
By educational attainment, 81% each among college graduates and among high school graduates expect there will be a COVID-19 vaccine by next year, 76% among elementary graduates and 68% among non-elementary graduates.
The percentage of those who believe there will be a COVID-19 vaccine in the next 12 months was significantly higher among the 18- to 24-year-olds (85%), among the 25- to 34-year-olds (85%) and among the 35- to 44-year-olds (81%) than among the 45- to 54-year-olds (76%) and among those 55 years old and above.
The announcement of companies Pfizer and BioNTech this week that early findings from their Phase 3 clinical trial suggested their vaccine candidate is 90% effective is a ray of hope for a world facing a surge of virus cases and lockdowns.
Duterte this week claimed the virus is not as big a threat now as he erroneously claimed that vaccines are already available and being sold.
But the Department of Health called on the public to keep their vaccine hopes grounded, advising people to continue practicing preventive health measures.
“This news is encouraging but of course, we have to temper our expectations. We should remain grounded on the reality that the virus is still there, that we should still do preventive measures,” DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a briefing Wednesday.
Wealthy countries have already received billions of doses of potential COVID-19 vaccines before they are even approved.
Aside from financial challenges, there are also logistical issues with the delivery and storage of these critical goods. Pfizer’s vaccine, for example, needs to be stored at -70 degrees Celsius to maintain its potency, a system that the country does not have.
Hopes on treatments
The SWS survey also found that 80% expect an effective treatment for COVID-19 will be available in the next 12 months. Broken down, 27% said the availability of a cure by next year will definitely happen, 53% said it will probably happen, 11% said it probably will not happen and 6% said it definitely will not happen.
Large majorities in all areas also expected the availability of an effective treatment: 85% in Metro Manila, 82% in Visayas, 81% in Mindanao and 77% in Balance Luzon.
The survey was conducted using a mobile phone and computer-assisted telephone interviewing. It had sampling error margin of ±3% for national percentages, ±6% for Metro Manila, ±5% for Balance Luzon, ±6% for the Visayas, and ±6% for Mindanao.
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