QCOSTARICA – A third batch of vaccines against covid-19 landed Tuesday night at the Juan Santamaría airport, with a total of 33,150 doses of the drug developed by Pfizer/BioNTech.
As in the first two shipments, the vaccines were flown in by DHL Aero Expreso. And as on previous occasions, the doses were transferred to the facilities of the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) – Costa Rican Social Security Fund – where they will be kept while the distribution is made to health facilities.
Casa Presidencial indicated that these vaccines will be used to begin immunization in communities outside the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM) next Monday, although it did not specify which ones.
The government reported on December 19 that, during January, 33,150 doses will be received per week, and that from February, the supply will grow even more.
This Tuesday’s vaccines are added to the first batch of 9,750 doses that arrived in the country on December 23 and the second shipment of 11,700 that landed on December 30.
In total, our country acquired three million Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines for 1.5 million individuals, as part of a planned total purchase of six million doses designed for three million inhabitants who require them and whose inoculation will be progressive throughout 2021.
The entire vaccination process involves a planned expenditure of US$70.7 million, according to Alexánder Solís, president of the Comisión Nacional de Prevención de Riesgos y Atención de Emergencias (CNE).
The Minister of Health, Daniel Salas, called on the population not to abandon the self-care and prevention measures in the face of covid-19, given that “the path to herd immunity will require months, and during this time it is vital not to faint in the health protocols.”
The CCSS has planned, through the Logistics Management, the routes that will allow, little by little, to take this medicine to each of the parts of the country and protect the population.
