The Costa Rican Health authorities reported this past Tuesday that so far they have immunized 65.5% of the target population (over 12 years of age) with two doses of the vaccine against Covid-19, while the percentage with at least one dose reaches 87.8%.
The figures released by the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS) indicate that in this country of 5.1 million inhabitants, 3,751,251 first doses have been placed, for 87.8% of the target population and 72.7% of the entire population.
In second doses, 2,798,296 vaccines have been given, with which the percentage of coverage for the target population is 65.5% and 54.2% of the total population of the country.The Costa Rican authorities have also placed 17,762 third doses to health personnel and people with high risk factors.
Saving lives
“Vaccines save lives, their safety and efficacy in reducing the risk of severe complications and the risk of death from covid-19 is proven. Our vaccination teams are active and continue working to protect the greatest number of people, “said the medical manager of the CCSS, Mario Ruiz.
The Vaccination QR Code
The Costa Rican government also announced this past Tuesday that starting on November 15th, the application will be available for free in the Huawei, Google and Apple stores for businesses to verify the QR code of the customers’ vaccination certificate.
As of December 1st, businesses that want to operate at 100% of their capacity must require the vaccination certificate from customers, while establishments that do not do so will only be able to operate at half their capacity. As of January 8th, the vaccination certificate will be mandatory for all establishments, with the exception of supermarkets, pharmacies, and other basic necessities.
The Government states that the application does not require the internet to function and that it does not record or save data of any kind. The data included in the QR code are the person’s name, date of birth, vaccination status, country of issue and an electronic seal from the Ministry of Health.
In the case of tourists, the authorities reported that the generation of a QR code will be enabled in the last week of November through the online health pass that visitors must fill out.
Contagions continue to decline
For the fourth consecutive week, the number of new cases fell by more than 20%, according to official data.In week 43 (from October 24 to 30) there were 3,579 new cases, which is 23% less than the previous week. So far in the pandemic, the country has accumulated 560,563 cases and 7,078 deaths.Regarding hospitalized patients, Costa Rica closed on November 1st with 577 patients, of which 240 were in intensive care units.
