QCOSTARICA – The United States Government confirmed ON Friday a donation of vaccines against covid-19 for Costa Rica, which would arrive in the country next week.
The announcement was made by Gloria Berbena, United States Chargé d’Affaires in Costa Rica, from her Twitter account.
Me complace anunciar que Estados Unidos se está preparando para enviar vacunas a Costa Rica la próxima semana.
— Encargada de Negocios Gloria Berbena (@usambassadorcr) July 10, 2021
“I am pleased to announce that the United States is preparing to send vaccines to Costa Rica next week,” the diplomat reported in a short message.
The official did not detail either quantities or which pharmaceutical company the doses are from.
Agradecemos este anuncio que reafirma la solidaridad y el apoyo de los Estados Unidos. Los equipos técnicos de ambos países han trabajado codo a codo para hacerla posible. Nuestros países reafirman su histórica relación bilateral y su compromiso de trabajar juntos. 🇨🇷🇺🇸 https://t.co/BExCcW9S0w
— Carlos Alvarado Quesada (@CarlosAlvQ) July 10, 2021
“We appreciate this announcement that reaffirms the solidarity and support of the United States. The technical teams from both countries have worked side by side to make it possible. Our countries reaffirm their historic bilateral relationship and their commitment to work together,” said President Carlos Alvarado, also in a tweet.
On April 26, the United States announced the shipment to other nations of up to 60 million doses of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca.
This Friday, at a press conference, the president of the National Emergency Commission (CNE), Alexánder Solís, assured that the institutions responsible for the vaccination process were able to receive vaccine donations.
From a logistical point of view, he recalled, the biggest challenge is with Pfizer’s product because it requires ultra-low temperatures, but the country has installed capacity to store up to 1.1 million doses.
The press office of the Ministry of Health confirmed Friday that the vaccines accepted in Costa Rica are those developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, and AstraZeneca, which are already being applied, as well as those of Johnson & Johnson and Moderna.
The news represents a boost to aspirations to achieve herd immunity soon. Due to the drop in vaccine shipments in June, and the dribble amount of 52,650 vaccines shipped by Pfizer this week, there was a slowdown in the inoculation process.
However, authorities insist that there is a commitment from Pfizer to increase deliveries starting this month, that from next week the new batches will be “more substantial.”
According to Casa Presidencial, Pfizer indicated that it will deliver 2,355,210 more vaccines before the end of September.
The Presidency said that with “this increase in available doses towards the end of the month and during the quarter”, it will be possible to advance with the vaccination of Group 5 (people between 12 and 58 without risk factors).
The U.S. donation could even advance that forecast.
To date, the country has received a total of 2,847,435 doses received since the first on December 23, 2020. It expects to reach the sum of 5.3 million vaccines, from purchase contracts, before October.
For its part, the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS), reports applying, as of July 5, 2021, 2,521,795 doses of which 1,704,864 people have received their first dose and 816,931 both doses.
