United States sending vaccines to Costa Rica this week
Costa Rica has administered more than 2.5 million Covid-19 vaccine doses.
The United States government will donate 500,000 Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine doses to Costa Rica this week.
“I am pleased to announce that the United States is preparing to ship vaccines to Costa Rica,” said Gloria Berbena, Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica.
“We appreciate this announcement that reaffirms the solidarity and support of the United States,” responded President Carlos Alvarado.
“The technical teams from both countries have worked side-by-side to make this possible. Our countries reaffirm their historic bilateral relationship and their commitment to work together.”
Why this matters
To date, Costa Rica has received 2,847,435 vaccine doses from Pfizer, AstraZeneca and through the Covax facility. This represents just over 30% of the 9 million doses Costa Rica has purchased.
The country has administered more than 2.5 million doses, prioritizing the elderly and people with risk factors.
Costa Rica hopes to expand Covid-19 vaccine access to all adults and teenagers by the end of July, but that will only be possible if the country has enough vaccines. This shipment from the United States should have an immediate impact to help more people get protected.
