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  The most recent shipment with 121,680 doses of Pfizer vaccines arrived on a DHL cargo last night at the Juan Santamaría International Airport. - National Emergency Commission photo -  |
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Published
Friday, June 25, 2021
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff Costa Rica has imported 2,714,055 vaccines against covid-19, according to the National Emergency Commission. The most recent shipment with 121,680 doses of Pfizer vaccines arrived on a DHL cargo last night at the Juan Santamaría International Airport in Alajuela Province. Of these, 80,730 doses are part of the 6,000,425 Pfizer vaccines to vaccinate more than 3 million people. And 40, 950 doses are part of the 2,038,300 vaccines purchased through the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access, COVAX system, of the World Health Organization, which includes WHO-approved vaccines, such as AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna. On Sunday, June 12, an Avianca cargo flight delivered 204,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines. These are part of the 1,092,000 doses purchased last year for the treatment of more than 500,000 people. The country bought a total of 9,130,725 doses to ensure treatment for more than 4.5 million residents living in Costa Rica, according to the commission statistics. The Emergency Commission plan is importing 2.5 million vaccines between July and September. By the end of this year, the government's goal is to have vaccinated at least 3.5 million people. As of Tuesday, a total of 2,331,030 vaccines against covid-19 have been applied, reaching a national vaccination rate of 45.7 per 100 inhabitants, according to the statistics from the Vaccine National Information System. Last week, the National Vaccination and Epidemiology Commission approved the Johnson & Johnson vaccine against covid-19. This approval is in response to the Costa Rica Doctors College request for receiving a donation of 1.5 million vaccines from the United States. However, the donation now depends on the U. S. Federal government’s approval of the Texas state government’s decision to donate the treatment to the Costa Rica Doctors College. Another major donation of vaccines against covid-19 to Costa Rica was announced earlier this month by the U.S. government. On June 3, U.S. President Joe Biden announced a donation of 80 million doses. Of these six million doses for Latin America and the Caribbean will be distributed through COVAX, according to the U.S. government statement. There is not any confirmation by health authorities on this donation for Costa Rica. According to the Ministry of Health, there are 69,329 active covid-19 cases in the country. Of the total 359,266 cases detected since last year, there were 4,581 deaths listed as covid-19 related, approximately 1.3% death rate in Costa Rica. The pandemic has killed more than 3.9 million people worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University. -------------------------- How should Costa Rica health authorities speed up the 1.5 million vaccine donation from the U.S. Federal government? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com            
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