QCOSTARICA – Last week, the president of the Comision Nacional de Emergencias (CNE) stressed that the shipments of the Pfizer vaccine against covid-19 would resume today Monday.
Alexánder Solís stated during the press conference last Tuesday, to report on the handling of the pandemic in the country, that shipments would resume on February 15.
Now it is “this week, although there is no exact date” when the DHL cargo plane will land at the Juan Santamaria International – San Jose airport – with a new batch of the vaccines.
The pharmaceutical suspended the distribution of the vaccines from its European plant with the idea of making adjustments in production.
The last vaccines that Costa Rica received arrived on the night of January 19. With the previous shipments that started on December 23, 2020, a total of 104,325 doses were received.
“By the end of the afternoon (Monday) it is expected to have more information,” the CNE added.
For its part, the Ministry of Health indicated that it is still waiting for Pfizer to announce when it will ship its next batch. “We continue to wait for official information from the company,” it said through the press office this Monday morning.
Hours later, minutes before 2 pm, the Ministry of Health sent another email reaffirming that the arrival is for this week, but the date and time is unknown.
Costa Rica is not the only country affected by this. Since January 15, the pharmaceutical company slowed down the pace of deliveries in some countries and stopped it down in others, such as our country.
Second dose vaccination
The suspension of deliveries has not stopped the vaccination process in Costa Rica, it has merely slowed down.
The country had enough stocks to ensure the second dose of all the people who had already received the first. In recent weeks, the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) has concentrated on completing vaccination schedules for them.
The latest data, released on Monday, February 7, indicated that more than 28,363 Costa Ricans had already received their full vaccination with two doses and another 18,387 await their second injection.
In total, 75,113 doses have been applied.
With the new doses, those over 58 will begin to be vaccinated, regardless of whether or not they have risk factors. In fact, 80% of the vaccines will be dedicated to this group.
People will be called according to their age, from oldest to youngest.
The remaining 20% will be dedicated to continuing with the so-called group 1, made up of “frontline” workers, such as health workers, firefighters, Police, and residents and workers in long-stay homes.
These were provisions of the National Commission of Vaccination and Epidemiology (CNVE).
