Starting on June 3, all schools in the country, public and private, will begin the program to vaccinate the first group of 35,150 10-year-old girls against the virus that causes cervical cancer.
It is expected that by September the entire target population will have been covered. Six months later, the second dose will be given.
This will be the first generation of women who will be protected against this virus, which causes a type of cancer that takes the life of 140 each year, many of them of productive age and with children.
This vaccination program will also be used by the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) to give ten-year-old students, boys and girls, the tetanus vaccine.
It is estimated that this will protect a little more than 70,000 children.
The CCSS informs that parents or guardians will be notified in a timely manner on the day when health officials visit their children’s educational center to send the vaccination card.
Vaccination is mandatory. Parents or guardians who do comply with the national vaccination scheme risk legal proceedings due to negligence.
The CCSS invested US$1.5 million in the first purchase of around 100,000 doses.