By the end of 2021, 3.5 million Ticos will have been fully vaccinated. This was stated by the President of the Republic, Carlos Alvarado, through a message on his social networks where he detailed about the progress in the immunization process of the population.
The President reviewed the different agreements that the country has both with AstraZeneca and with Pfizer (the two pharmaceutical companies that supply the country with injectables), as well as the Covax multilateral mechanism.
“We are accelerating the arrival of vaccines and accelerating their application. This includes direct action by the state and also the support that the private sector and civil society organizations can give,” said the President.
According to Alvarado, by June the country will have received more than 2.2 million doses in total. And between July and September, about 2.5 million more vaccines are expected to arrive. The President even pointed out that they are “conservative” data that he hopes can be overcome.
Teachers to be prioritized
Costa Rica is already vaccinating group 3, which are people between 16 and 57 years old with risk factors. The President of the Republic indicated that they are advancing in a process to give priority in this group to teachers, municipal workers of essential activities and repair of aqueducts.
Alvarado recalled that since the end of April, the Ministry of Health issued a resolution that allows the importation of vaccines authorized by regulatory agencies by the private sector. Although this alternative is slower, since pharmaceutical companies are giving priority to agreements with governments, the President indicated that “I am confident that this will achieve a prompt import of quality vaccines that will add to the effort to accelerate vaccination.”
International support
On the other hand, the President of the Republic pointed out that they have contacted governments such as the United States, the European Union and China in search of support to accelerate vaccination.
The President reiterated that the difficulties that may arise in the projections of Costa Rica. For example, the ability of pharmaceutical companies to meet the demand for vaccines, as well as the hoarding of rich countries.
On May 11th, the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS) announced that the country has exceeded one million doses applied since the campaign began in December 2020.
