The national Social Weather Survey of April 28– May 2, 2021 found 63% of adult Filipinos choosing the United States of America (USA) as their preferred source of Covid-19 vaccines.
The survey also found Sinovac Biotech and Pfizer-BioNTech topping the list of preferred brands at 39% and 32%, respectively.
At the time of the survey, over 7 million Covid-19 vaccines have been delivered to the Philippines. Most of these vaccines are China’s Sinovac (about 5 million), followed by United Kingdom’s Oxford-AstraZeneca (about 2.5 million) and Russia’s Gamaleya Sputnik (about 30,000).
The first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech (around 193,000) COVID-19 vaccines arrived a week after the survey on May 10, 2021.
63% prefer the USA as the source of vaccines
The May 2021 survey asked, “If you could choose the country of origin of the vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the Philippines, which of the following would you choose?” Respondents were shown 10 country-origins in random order and were allowed more than one answer.
The USA topped the list with 63%, distantly followed by China (19%), Japan (13%), Australia (13%), United Kingdom (13%), Canada (12%), and Russia (12%).
Obtaining single-digit scores are Germany (8%), South Korea (6%), and India (3%).
Two percent chose all ten countries, while 12% did not give an answer.
SWS: 63% of adult Filipinos prefer US-made COVID-19 vaccines
39% choose Sinovac Biotech, 32% choose Pfizer-BioNTech
The May 2021 survey also 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?” Respondents were provided with a list of 10 FDA-approved vaccines, presented in random order, and were allowed to choose more than one.
Topping the list are Sinovac Biotech (39%) and Pfizer-BioNTech (32%), followed by Oxford-AstraZeneca (22%) and Johnson & Johnson (10%).
The rest obtained single-digit scores: Moderna (7%), CureVac (3%), Sinopharm (3%), Novavax (3%), Sanofi-GSK (3%), and Gamaleya (2%).
Two percent chose all ten brands, while 19% did not give an answer.
76% of those who prefer China also chose Sinovac Biotech
Seventy-six percent of those who chose China as their preferred source also chose Sinovac Biotech.
On the other hand, Pfizer-BioNTech (43%) and Sinovac Biotech (41%) are equally chosen by those who prefer the USA as the country of origin. At the same time, Oxford-AstraZeneca obtained its highest preference score among those who chose the United Kingdom.
For the rest of the countries tested in the survey, brand preferences showed no clear connection with the country of origin.
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