Town gives away cows to achieve herd immunity

BOVINE BONANZA The municipal government of San Luis in Pampanga province is raffling off cows monthly to entice locals to be vaccinated against COVID-19. A social media announcement names the first winner on Aug. 1, and also shows her prize and acknowledges the sponsor. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

MABALACAT CITY—The agricultural town of San Luis in Pampanga province is banking on cows to convince more people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and achieve herd immunity.

Citing the growing hesitation of the town’s residents, especially the senior citizens, to get inoculated due to the fear of side effects, Mayor Jayson Sagum said the local government on Aug. 1 launched a monthly raffle to give away cows.

In a video posted on the municipal government’s Facebook account, Sagum said residents who were vaccinated with either the first dose or full dose of COVID-19 vaccines would be eligible to join the raffle.

Dubbed “Baka Para sa Bakuna (Cow for Vaccines),” the program aims to encourage eligible residents to get vaccinated, Sagum said.

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The local government has been posting on its Facebook page the lists of vaccinated residents who are automatically included in the raffle.

Sagum said the raffle would run until the town had completed its vaccination drive by July next year, targeting 70 percent, or about 40,000 of its 58,551 population, based on the 2020 census.

The mayor said the cows, which cost P30,000 each, were from donors, such as local businessmen.

Mel Sarmiento, a resident of Barangay Sta. Catalina, was the first to win a cow on Aug. 1. The raffle was streamed live on Facebook for transparency, Sagum said.

Sarmiento said she was grateful to the local government for the prize, which was personally delivered by Sagum to her house.

According to Ardee Taruc, information officer of San Luis, at least 2,938 town residents had already received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine while 3,711 had been fully inoculated.

San Luis recorded a total of 297 cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began last year and at least 251 have recovered while 17 have died. The town has 29 active cases as of Wednesday.