QCOSTARICA – The University of Oxford and AstraZeneca vaccine against the new coronavirus will be on sale in Costa Rican pharmacies in the second half of 2021, predicts the pharmaceutical company.
In this way, the pharmaceutical company based in the United Kingdom advanced it before the AmeliaRueda.com query formulated
“The date for the Covid-19 vaccine to be available in the private health sector (in Costa Rica) is not yet defined since it depends on regulations and protocols for handling the pandemic defined by each country. We would expect it to be available in 2021, with probability let it be for the second semester,” AstraZeneca said in writing when asked through the Central American Federation of Pharmaceutical Laboratories (Fedefarma).
Related article: Who is first to be vaccinated in Costa Rica?
In its response, the company did not detail what the approximate cost will be.
AstraZeneca is the third major drug company to report late-stage results for its potential COVID-19 vaccine. Yet unlike many of its rivals, the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine does not have to be stored at ultra-cold temperatures.
The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is based on the virus’s genetic instructions for building the spike protein. But unlike the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, which store the instructions in single-stranded RNA, the Oxford vaccine uses double-stranded DNA.
The researchers added the gene for the coronavirus spike protein to another virus called an adenovirus. Adenoviruses are common viruses that typically cause colds or flu-like symptoms. The Oxford-AstraZeneca team used a modified version of a chimpanzee adenovirus, known as ChAdOx1. It can enter cells, but it can’t replicate inside them.
The National Commission for Risk Prevention and Emergency Attention (CNE) signed an agreement on November 12 to acquire one million doses of the candidate vaccine from AstraZeneca, with which it is intended to cover half a million people. This is because the injection requires two doses per person.
The Vice Minister of Health, Pedro González, pointed out more than a month ago that each dose has an average price of US$4 per person, although this does not include distribution costs.
On December 3, the Costa Rica government signed a contract to purchase three million doses of the vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech and the first that has the endorsement of the Ministry of Health for its emergency use in Costa Rica.
It is expected that with this start in the first quarter of next year the vaccination campaign against respiratory disease.
