QCOSTARICA – Vaccination against covid-19 will be mandatory for all health officials, announced the medical manager of the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS), Mario Ruiz Cubillo, during a press conference Friday.
“The vaccine actually saves lives, it keeps people from getting seriously ill. The National Vaccination Commission (and Epidemiology, CNVE) has established that vaccination is mandatory and we are awaiting official notification,” said Ruiz without specifying what those corresponding measures would be, and each case will be analyzed individually, as there may be people who, due to health conditions, cannot receive the dose.
However, refusal of a vaccine would not allow those who work directly with patients to continue to do so.
At this time, more than 60% of CCSS first responders are already vaccinated.
“It is very important that these people are vaccinated, not only in the Caja, but also in the National Emergency Commission, Firefighters, Red Cross, because they are the ones who take care of us,” said Ruiz.
The CCSS press office clarified hours later that the chief specifically referred to health officials and not to the general population.
At the beginning of the month, health authorities recognized that at least 309 hospital workers had expressed their refusal to be vaccinated.
In an interview with La Nación, Leandra Abarca, coordinator of the Expanded Immunization Program of the CCSS, indicated that among the employees who refuse to receive the drug there are health professionals, as well as workers of other profiles.
“Before doing good make sure you do no harm. So, the duty of these doctors, nurses and health personnel is to get vaccinated. They have a deontological duty, an ethic of duties,” Alejandro Marín, doctor and expert in biolaw, assured La Nación..
Data provided by the CCSS last Monday, the day before receiving the latest batch of vaccines from Pfizer, indicated that 96,948 doses of vaccines have been applied. Of these, 81,169 have been for first responders in the pandemic. Each person must receive two doses to have full protection.
