SWS: 80% of Pinoys expect COVID-19 vaccine, medicine by 2021

Eighty percent of adult Filipinos expect a vaccine and medicine for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to be rolled out in the next 12 months, a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey has found.

In a non-commissioned poll conducted from September 17 to 20, the SWS asked 1,249 adult Filipinos whether they think a vaccine and medicine to treat COVID-19 will become available in the next 12 months.

80 percent of the respondents said they expect a vaccine to be rolled out in the next 12 months while 17 percent said they do not see it happening soon.

Similarly, 80 percent of those surveyed said a medicine to treat COVID-19 will likely become available in the next 12 months while 17 percent said they do not expect it to happen.

The proportion of Filipinos who expect a vaccine and treatment for COVID-19 to be out by next year was highest in Metro Manila at 85 percent, followed by Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

The expectations for the roll out of a COVID-19 vaccine and medicine are also significantly higher among more educated groups.

Eighty-one percent each of college graduates and high school graduates see a COVID-19 vaccine soon, compared to only 68 percent of non-elementary graduates.

Eighty-two percent of college graduates and 80 percent each of elementary and high school graduates expect a treatment for COVID-19 by next year, while only 70 percent expected the same among non-elementary graduates.

The expectations for a COVID-19 vaccine and medicine by 2021 were also higher among those aged 18 to 44 compared to those 45 years old and above.

Expectations did not vary significantly between men and women.

More Pinoys than Americans see COVID-19 vaccine by 2021

The SWS said its poll questions were patterned after an April-May survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in the United States.

The US poll found that 73 percent of Americans expect a COVID-19 vaccine in 2021, 26 percent do not see it happening, and 3 percent said it will definitely not happen.

However, there was hardly a difference in the number of Americans and Filipinos who said they expect a COVID-19 treatment to be out in the next 12 months.

The US survey found that 83 percent of Americans said a treatment for COVID-19 will likely be out next year, 16 percent do not expect the same to happen, and 2 percent said it will definitely not happen soon.

Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier said the bulk of COVID-19 vaccines will likely become available in the Philippines in the end of 2021 or early 2022. —LDF, GMA News