Some Filipinos believe ginger and honey can cure Covid

 Some Filipinos still believe in the treatment of Covid-19 with ginger, honey and lemon, which makes the country 68% reluctant to get vaccinated.

According to the Social Weather Station (SWS) survey of 1,200 people this May, 68% of respondents were unsure or unwilling to be vaccinated. Their biggest concern is that there may be side effects or that they may die from the vaccine.

In particular, some people still impressed by the experience in 2017 in the Philippines stopped a large-scale vaccination after the French vaccine manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur discovered that its Dengvaxia vaccine had unintended consequences for patients. Who have never been vaccinated against the disease.

Philippine health officials and staff are now working to increase public confidence in the Covid-19 vaccine.

But Dr. Mike Marasigan, a medical officer with the Quezon City Health Department, said the hard-to-reach group was the poor community.

"We are struggling with a group of people who have been discouraged," he said. They are also our concern when we ask for information related to symptoms. "We find it even harder to persuade them to get vaccinated."

Letty Zambrona, a 65-year-old retiree from the Paranaque area of ​​Manila, said she would not be vaccinated even though she was in a vulnerable group and had diabetes and high blood pressure.

"There is a side effect that I do not want to be vaccinated," said Zambrona. "Because I heard on TV it was like a blood clot in the brain."

She said her husband felt the same way and was better off using traditional medicine.

"We have no worries if we have immediate symptoms," says Zambrona. In fact, it is better to treat it with ginger, lemon, honey, which can all be cured.

Marasigan confirmed that some Filipinos think that Covid-19 will not infect them. When they are exposed to different climates, such as toxic weather and everything, they think of it as a protective immune system.