Costa Rica negotiates purchase of third dose of Covid-19 vaccines

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Government of Costa Rica announced Thursday that it is negotiating with Pfizer to purchase covid-19 vaccines to apply a third booster dose to people over 58 years old and first responders.

“The country is in a negotiation process to secure access to covid-19 vaccines that could be occupied in 2022. This is similar to the negotiation process that was done in 2020 and that allowed us to secure vaccines for this year,” explained the Minister of Communication, Agustín Castro.

Read also: Check out our coverage on Costa Rica

In total, the negotiation is for 2.5 million vaccines, of which 1 million will be for the third dose for people over 58 years of age and first responders.

The remaining 1.5 million vaccines will be used to administer two doses to children between 2 and 12 years of age who are currently out of the vaccination process.

The Costa Rican government explained that Pfizer is developing the pediatric vaccine against covid-19 and that Costa Rica will use it when approved by a strict regulatory agency.

“The Government evaluated other options that are also in the development of its pediatric covid-19 vaccine, such as the company Moderna; however, because of the price and likely timeframe for approval, Pfizer is a more competitive option,” the Presidential House explained.

Costa Rica, a country of 5.1 million inhabitants, has signed a contract with Pfizer for 6 million doses of vaccines, another with AstraZeneca for 1 million doses, and an agreement with the Covax mechanism for 2 million doses would cover the entire population subject to vaccination by 2021.

As of August 2, the most recent data available, 3,424,278 doses had been administered in this country, of which 2,573,189 are first doses (49.8% of the population) 851,089 are second doses.

Ninety-one percent of people over 58 years of age have one dose, and 87% already have both doses, while among people between 40 and 57 years of age, 70% have one dose and 6% have both doses.

In people between 20 and 39 years of age, the percentage with the first dose reaches 49% and 4% with the second dose, while in young people between 12 and 19 years of age, the percentages are 33% and 0.2%, respectively, according to official data.

So far, during the pandemic, Costa Rica has counted 414,745 cases of covid-19 and 5,108 deaths.

Since mid-April, the country has been facing a third wave of infections that at its peak caused more than 3,000 cases per day but is currently in a slow decline with a daily average of around 1,200 infections.

On Thursday, hospitals maintained a high level of occupancy in intensive care units with 380 people hospitalized, while in the wards for mild and moderate patients, there are 851 people.