QCOSTARICA – The Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) has applied 7,756,348 doses of the vaccine against covid-19 according to the records of the Sistema Integrado de Vacunas (SIVA) del Expediente Digital Único en Salud (Edus) to December 27, 2021.
Dr. Diana Paniagua, from the CCSS Epidemiological Surveillance subarea, reported that, in the last seven days, the application of 176,302 doses was recorded.
Of the total of the vaccines applied by the CCSS teams, 3,944,932 correspond to first doses, 3,505,176 to second, and 306,240 to third.
With these data, a percentage of application of the first doses is 92.3% in the first dose, 82% in the second, and 7.2% in the third of the target population of 4.274.344 people; and 76.41% in the first dose, 67.89% in the second, and 5.93% in the third of the total population of 5,163,021 people, based on 2021 CCSS Actuarial Projections.
Regarding the distribution of the doses applied by groups, 958,618 doses have been applied in people between 12 and 19 years of age. Of these, 527 781 correspond to first doses, 430 626 to second, and 211 to third doses.
In the group aged 20 to 39 years, a total of 2,938,444 doses have been placed, of which 1,579,280 correspond to first doses, 1,330,809 to second, and 28,355 to third.
In people aged 40 to 57 years, 2,035,684 doses have been given: 1,050,765 first doses, 963,321 second and 21,598 third.
Finally, in the group of 58 years and over, 1,823,602 doses have been applied: 787,106 first doses, 780,420 second, and 256,076 third doses.
According to the Mayo Clinic, “Herd immunity occurs when a large portion of a community (the herd) becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. As a result, the whole community becomes protected — not just those who are immune.”
Vaccination continues
During this week, from December 27 to 31, the vaccination teams continue their efforts to place the third dose to all people over 65 years of age who have received the second dose of the vaccine for at least six months and who request it voluntarily.
In those health areas where not enough people aged 65 are getting their vaccine, contingency plans are being authorized, lowering the age to 60 years.
To receive the third dose, people can go to any vaccination post provided by the CCSS and present their Cedula, DIMEX or passport, and the vaccination card.
The CCSS also makes a call to the population that has not started their vaccination schedule or that has not completed it, so that they do not miss the opportunity this week, the institution has more than 263 fixed points and in some areas, it makes home visits.
Each health area develops different strategies according to vaccine availability, to apply first doses and they are completing vaccination schedules according to the started schedule: Pfizer in 3 weeks or AstraZeneca in 8 weeks.
Faced with the risk of the omicron variant, it is important that people have the protection of the vaccine against covid-19, which has proven to be effective in reducing complications of the disease and the risk of death. The above added with the other preventive measures such as hand washing, use of a mask, distancing, and following the coughing and sneezing protocol.