Filipinos really favored Pfizer-BioNTech over Sinovac as thousands have lined up to get a jab in a Manila vaccination site, Tuesday, May 18.
According to ABS-CBN reporter Jekki Pascual, 3,000 residents have gathered in hopes to get inoculated despite the vaccine supply only being 900 doses.
Dinagsa ang vaccination site sa Maynila kung saan Pfizer ang gagamitin. 900 doses lang meron, pero umabot sa 3,000 ang pumila. pic.twitter.com/5bvBf2q9iv
— Jekki Pascual (@jekkipascual) May 18, 2021
The gathering has proven that Filipinos prefer Pfizer over Sinovac. Pascual said that there were 18 Sinovac vaccination sites in Manila, with the Manila authority urging its citizens to accept the available vaccines.
The vaccine made by the American pharmaceutical Pfizer Inc. has an efficacy rate of about 95%. Its counterpart, Sinovac, has between 50% to 78%, which is much lower.
Several personalities and Netizens pointed the obvious—most of the public rejects Sinovac and prefers Pfizer.
this indirectly confirms people’s rejection of Sinovac and preference for Pfizer. https://t.co/F3IZLcD58l
— What A Waste of Ad Money (@wawam) May 18, 2021
Paeng Lopez, a campaigner at non-profit Health Care Without Harm, speculated that Filipinos do not doubt vaccines, only the ones that Pres. Rodrigo Duterte pushes—Sinovac.
https://twitter.com/paengLopez/status/1394653968702140418
Journalist JC Punongbayan likewise agreed that many did not trust the Chinese vaccine due to a huge crowd gathering in a Pfizer vaccination site.
https://twitter.com/jcpunongbayan/status/1394657235511300100
Some netizens also recognized that Filipinos doubt the efficacy of Sinovac as many waited to receive a Pfizer shot.
https://twitter.com/OhSoKRIZA/status/1394642762851446798
https://twitter.com/reddikulusly/status/1394617814305050627
https://twitter.com/c_anne03/status/1394620725223329795
A netizen even shared that his relatives got vaccinated by Pfizer abroad, proving that it is effective. The high efficacy rate is one of the reasons people favor the US brand rather than the Chinese.
The netizen also hopes that the Moderna vaccine will soon arrive in the Philippines to boost the public’s confidence regarding Covid-19 vaccines.
Ayaw talaga nila ng Sinovac. 😂 Pero seriously, yung tito & tita ko sa US at UK puro Pfizer ang binakuna kaya okay na sila dun. Kaya sana dumating na rin yung Moderna at Pfizer dito para mas maging confident ang mga tao. https://t.co/7TIvcjZMLA
— Kenneth Garcia (@JKenneth101) May 18, 2021
Meanwhile, a netizen stressed that the Dengvaxia issue was not the problem why the public distrusts vaccines. More so, it is the brand—Sinovac—which the Administration insists that people take.
https://twitter.com/abadvince2020/status/1394628606291156994
On May 10, Pfizer arrived in the Philippines and was distributed to major cities that can handle its required storage temperature of -70 degrees Celsius. The country has received 193,000 Covid-19 shots. It also signed the biggest Covid-19 vaccine order—40 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech.
