QCOSTARICA – On Wednesday, President Rodrigo Chaves and the Minister of Health, Jocelyn Chacón, confirmed that the vaccine against covid-19 will not be mandatory in Costa Rica.
“Today vaccines are no longer mandatory and any action against someone who does not want to be vaccinated is a violation of the law,” the president emphasized.
The 60-year-old president pointed out during the press conference that he has his four shots of the covid-19 vaccine.
“I have been vaccinated and I tell people to do it,” said the president, who denied being “anti-vaccine.”
Upon taking office on May 8, the Chaves Administration requested that the covid-19 vaccines would no longer be mandatory. However, the request fell on deaf ears of the National Vaccination and Epidemiology Commission (CNVE), which recommended that the obligation be maintained for workers in the public and private sectors.
For the authorities, it is more effective to work on carrying out information campaigns and making vaccines accessible.
Last December, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned against mandatory vaccinations unless all other options have been exhausted.
