Although the United Kingdom has already authorized the use of the COVID-19 vaccine developed between the University of Oxford and the company AstraZeneca, Costa Rica will await steps taken in other countries to advance its implementation.
As confirmed by the Ministry of Health, the criteria of recognized entities will be awaited. Examples of this are the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
“One of the requirements that was contemplated for the acquisition of vaccines in Costa Rica is that they pass through a strict regulatory agency recognized internationally,” said the institution.
The country directly negotiated the doses of this formula for half a million people. The process followed with the Pfizer vaccine, authorized for emergency use in less than two days after FDA approval, is thus repeated. The mechanism performs sufficient verification of drugs, but in a shorter period of time. For other drugs, the testing and authorization phases have taken up to a decade.
The advantages of AstraZeneca
The Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine is presented as the practical alternative for the Pandemic.
Unlike the low temperatures of -70 ° C required by Pfizer, it can be stored at normal refrigeration temperatures.
The company has also insisted that its formula can respond better to new strains and there are better results in older adults. Although an efficiency between 70% and 90% was originally projected, the company now assures that its vaccine would be close to 100% effective.
