Costa Rica needs to go from receiving 60 thousand doses a week to 150 thousand and thus cover just over 3 million people between now and December. In addition, the Social Security has shown in other vaccination campaigns that it has the capacity to apply vaccines in a timely manner.
At this stage of the Pandemic, vaccination is the most efficient weapon to combat the Covid-19 virus and achieve the economic stability that the country so badly needs. That is why the College of Physicians ensures that the health system is capable not only of speeding up vaccination, but also making it more efficient.
Experience already there
“Vaccines are not a new issue for Costa Rica, we have been applying them for 50 years and historical data from the Costa Rican Social Security Fund show that in other vaccination campaigns they have had the capacity to vaccinate the population in a timely manner” indicated Dr. Mauricio Guardia, president of the College of Physicians and Surgeons.
According to Guardia, it is public knowledge that the CCSS receives about 60,000 vaccines a week and after five months of vaccination, only a little more than a million people have been covered in the first dose. Against this background, it is urgent to accelerate the process to achieve the long-awaited herd immunity.
“Applying simple calculations, if we bring 150 thousand vaccines per week and apply them immediately, we could cover two and a half million people between now and December. That means that we would achieve the necessary coverage to reactivate all commercial activities in the country,” insisted the president of the College of Physicians.
He adds that the Social Security has all the necessary tools to achieve this: infrastructure, trained health personnel, the EDUS system and the ethical commitment of those who work for the CCSS.
To this must be added the political will necessary to bring the necessary doses to the country and for the government to take seriously the task of obtaining them. “As doctors we prefer to say that we cannot vaccinate because there were no doses left rather then that there is no efficient vaccination system that allows us to apply them,” emphasized Guardia
Recommendations to speed up vaccination
The College of Physicians insists that there are several measures that can be applied to make vaccination more efficient. To achieve this, it is proposed:
– Mass vaccination every day including Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from 7:00 a.m. at 7:00 p.m. throughout the country in public access sites, such as parking lots, the College of Physicians, College of Nurses and private companies.
– Establish criteria for the distribution of doses by health area according to the quantity and age distribution of the population.
– Assess vaccination without an appointment and without being insured
– Modify vehicle restriction and PCR tests
As a complement to the acceleration of the vaccination process, the College of Physicians proposes that the health authorities consider other measures to control the agglomeration of citizens and thereby reduce the transmissibility of the virus.
One of them is in relation to the vehicle restriction, in which the College proposes that, temporarily, the vehicles circulate only twice a week; the day corresponding to your license plate and one during the weekend. With this, it is intended to reduce traffic on the roads and speed up public transport.
PCR test for all foreigners
Finally, the representatives of the College of Physicians insist that the country must apply the PCR test for all foreigners who independently enter the country. “We are aware that tourism urgently needs the reactivation of its activity, however, we are experiencing a reality of saturation in hospitals. For this reason, it is urgent to implement the requirement of the PCR test for tourists, which guarantees that they will not end up overwhelming the social security”, concluded Dr. Guardia Gutiérrez, president of the College of Physicians.
