Sinovac is vaccine brand preferred by most Filipinos, followed by Pfizer — SWS
The vaccine brands most preferred by Filipinos are Sinovac followed by Pfizer according to the results of a nationwide survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).
The survey showed that 39% of respondents opted for Sinovac Biotech, followed by Pfizer-BioNTech (32%) when asked, “If you could choose the brand of vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration of the Philippines, which of the following would you choose?”
Next to the two brands were Oxford-AstraZeneca (22%), Johnson & Johnson (10%), Moderna (7%), CureVac (3%), Sinopharm (3%), Novavax (3%), Sanofi-GSK (3%), and Gamaleya (2%).
The survey also showed that 63% of Filipinos prefer United States-manufactured vaccines when asked “If you could choose the country of origin of the vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration of the Philippines, which of the following would you choose?”
The 2021 Social Weather Stations poll found that next to the US, China (19%), Japan (13%), Australia (13%), United Kingdom (13%), Canada (12%), Russia (12%), Germany (8%), Korea (6%), and India (3%) are preferred. Twelve percent of the 1,200 adult Filipinos opted not to answer the question.
The non-commissioned survey—which had sampling error margins of ±3% for national percentages and ±6% for the chosen areas—was conducted between April 28 to May 2. The participants came from Balance Luzon (300), Metro Manila (300), Visayas (300), and Mindanao (300).
The issue of vaccine preference came to the fore recently after a large crowd turned up at some vaccination sites in Metro Manila after getting wind that the Pfizer vaccine will be administered. In response to this, the government adopted a "brand agnostic" vaccination policy, where vaccine brands will only be made known to the recipient on-site.
Palace spokesperson Harry Roque acknowledged in a press briefing the results of the SWS survey, but said US brands like Pfizer are not enough for local supply.
“Naiintindihan natin na ang mga Pilipino ay mas hanga sa stateside. Pero hindi po yan sapat para sa lahat,” said Roque.
“Bagamat mayron tayong preference, unahin muna natin ang buhay ng ating pamilya, ng ating komunidad.”
Asked if the government could adjust the government’s procurement to secure more US brands, testing czar Vince Dizon said the government’s strategy is to have “a portfolio of vaccines” due to limited suppliers.
