5 kilos of rice free for Angeles City seniors who get COVID-19 vaccine

RICE FOR VAX. An elderly resident gets vaccinated against COVID-19 inside one of Angeles City’s mobile bus clinics. Senior citizens in the city who will get their jabs on Sept. 26 to 29 will be given free 5 kgs of rice. (Photo from the Angeles City government)

ANGELES CITY — In a bid to ramp up its vaccination program against COVID-19, the city government here announced on Friday that senior citizens who will have themselves vaccinated will  also get 5 kilos of rice for free.

“To encourage more people to be vaccinated, resident senior citizens who will receive first dose of vaccines against COVID-19 will get five kilos of rice,” an emailed statement from the city government said.

The city government told Inquirer the “vaccine-to-rice” program will be held at the legislative building of the city hall from Sept. 26 to 29.

Mayor Carmelo Lazatin Jr. said the program is a form of reward to encourage the elderly to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

“Ang bakuna po ang tanging proteksyon natin laban sa virus, kaya po hinihikayat ko po ang ating mga lolo at lola na magpabakuna,” he added.

(The vaccine is our only protection against the virus, so we are encouraging our senior citizens to get vaccinated.)

The city government said 405,190 residents here have already received their first dose of vaccines while 382,420 got the second dose. A total of 91,849 received their first booster shot while 9,849 got the second booster shot.

Angeles City is one of the 23 highly urbanized cities in the country to achieve herd immunity.

This city has a total population of 462,928 based on the 2020 census. At least 82 percent of the residents are fully vaccinated against the viral disease.

Vaccination is still being conducted in the city’s six rural health units.

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