QCOSTARICA – The National Vaccination and Epidemiology Commission agreed to advance the application of the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine as of August 30 to all people aged 30 to 57 years to 8 weeks administered of the first dose.
The decision is made at the request of the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) who project a reduction in mortality and hospitalization by accelerating the applying of second doses.
The above will apply to both those vaccinated with the first dose of Pfizer and AstraZeneca. For both cases, the second dose administered will be the Pfizer vaccine.
The population under 30 years of age maintains the 12-week vaccination schedules between doses, leaving it at the discretion of the CCSS to reduce the advance age of the vaccination schedule (from 12 to 8 weeks) as a plan of contingency to avoid dose loss and complete as many schedules as possible.
Those 58 years of age and over and pregnant women will continue with the 3 weeks (21 days) between doses vaccination schedule.
As explained by Dr. Mario Ruiz Cubillo, “This decision responds to the current epidemiological scenario where we are observing an increase in cases after the entry of the Delta variant to our country. It is a change that constitutes a dynamic response to the variations that we observe in the behavior of this disease.”
CCSS data show that, as of the previous Monday, 4,033,022 people have been vaccinated, of which 3,029,514 people have received the first dose and 1,003,508 people have already completed their vaccination schedule, that is have had both doses.
“It is urgent to complete vaccination schedules in people who, although they have already started the development of defenses, still do not have full immunization,” said Ruiz.
Estimates from the CCSS Epidemiological Surveillance subarea show that, with this advance, by the end of September more than 45% of the country’s population will have completed their vaccination schedule (both doses), thus achieving the highest possible individual immunity to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and its variants.
This individual protection also allows more people to have less risk of becoming ill and transmitting the disease, which also allows protecting the population that has not yet been vaccinated.
The original estimate, without the advance dose, was just 30%. This indicator will depend on the response of the population to the call.
Dr. Diana Paniagua Hidalgo of Epidemiological Surveillance explained that, with this advance in the dates, next week the CCSS vaccination teams expect to apply about 380 thousand doses of the vaccine.
“It is important that people attend to be vaccinated on the same day of the week and at the same health facility where the first dose was applied. In other words, if the first dose was applied on a Tuesday, they should attend on Tuesday (of the new week schedule) to receive their second dose,” commented Dr. Paniagua.
The official asked that people consult with their local health area, either directly or through social networks, how the change will apply to them. All the information on the vaccination program can be found at CCSS website: www.ccss.sa.cr/vacunacion.
If your vaccination appointment to receive the second dose is from:
- August 30 to October 3, will now be from August 30 to September 5
- October 4 to 10, will now be from: September 6 to 12.
- October 11 to 17, will now be from: September 13 to 19
- October 18 to 24, will now be from: September 20 to 26
- October 25 to 31, will now be from: September 27 to October 3.
- November 1 to 7, will now be from: October 4 to 10.
- November 8 to 14, will now be from: October 11 to 17
The CCSS asks people who attend their vaccination appointment to maintain the measures that have been shown to be effective in reducing the risk of contracting covid-19: washing hands with soap and water or use of alcoholic solution or alcohol gel, appropriate use mask and physical distancing.
