The vaccination of children between the ages of 5 and 11 will begin on Tuesday, January 11, announced Casa Presidencial. The campaign will begin with 11-year-olds and will decrease by one year in age, on average, every three or four weeks, according to the agreement of the National Vaccination and Epidemiology Commission (CNVE), announced at the end of the afternoon of this Thursday.
The vaccines that will be used in that age group will arrive at dawn this Friday, January 7. The pharmaceutical house Pfizer / BioNTech confirmed that there will be 64,380 doses, of which 48,000 are pediatric first doses and 16,380 are for people over 12 years of age.
January 11 will be a great day: vaccination against COVID-19 of boys and girls ages 5-11 will begin. This morning the first 48,000 pediatric doses will arrive, confirmed Pfizer / BioNTech. It will start with 11-year-old girls and boys. We take care of the health of our childhood! @CCSSdeCostaRica pic.twitter.com/2BrBGCaisY
– Carlos Alvarado Quesada (@CarlosAlvQ) January 7, 2022
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“The start of vaccination for boys and girls from 5 to 11 years old brings peace of mind for parents who wanted the protection of our sons and daughters. This population is the present and the last group that we still need to cover in the vaccination campaign. By vaccinating children, we will inject ourselves with hope because we will be closer to exiting this ordeal, ”said President Carlos Alvarado in a press release.
[ Sí, ómicron es menos agresiva y menos letal, pero no por eso inofensiva ]
On October 25, the teenagers between 12 and 17 years old. At that time, there was talk of a coverage goal of some 188,427 adolescents who had yet to start their protection scheme against this disease.
Who and where?
As of January 11, those who are 11 years old will be able to go to the different vaccination posts that the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS) has throughout the country.
The National Vaccination Commission agreed that children with high-risk conditions will be called by the medical centers where they carry out their control so that they receive the vaccine there. This group includes patients with diseases such as cancer, sickle cell disease, heart disease, infantile cerebral palsy, myelomeningocele, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes.
In this high-risk group are also minors with cystic fibrosis, severe asthma, oxygen-dependent, tracheostomized, patients with primary immunodeficiencies, rheumatic autoimmune disease (juvenile idiopathic arthritis, juvenile dermatomyositis, lupus, systemic sclerosis, vasculitis) and HIV infection .
[ Ómicron dispara contagios de covid-19 en última semana ]
The minor beneficiaries of organ transplants, with Down syndrome and tuberculosis will be able to receive the vaccine against covid-19 in all vaccinations. In all these cases, the second dose will be applied three weeks after the first.
Children who received the first dose of Pfizer / BioNTech pediatric vaccine abroad will be able to receive the second dose in Costa Rica. They must request it in the health area of assignment and present the foreign vaccination card.
[ Esta es la mascarilla que más protege contra ómicron ]
With a view to the start of the next school year, scheduled for the February 17th, The Commission authorized these officials to receive the third dose as long as they have had the second dose for at least six months:
- Officials of the Ministry of Public Education (public and private education) in first, second and third level, and in diversified education.
- Staff of Comprehensive Care Centers (CAI).
- Officials from the shelters of the National Children’s Trust (PANI), field operatives and personnel with direct psychosociolegal attention.
The announcement is made at a time when the country is waiting for the increase in cases associated with the circulation of omicron, the new variant of SARS-CoV-2, more contagious, although with less capacity to become seriously ill and kill.
[ Variante ómicron está presente en todo el país; se convierte en la más común ]
This Thursday, the Ministry of Health confirmed 2,981 new cases of covid-19. There are 165 people hospitalized (25 more than this Wednesday), 55 of them in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Only one more death from causes related to the new coronavirus was registered in the last 24 hours.
In addition, the Costa Rican Institute for Research and Teaching in Nutrition and Health (Incense), confirmed this afternoon that omicron is throughout the national territory.
[ Sí, ómicron es menos agresiva y menos letal, pero no por eso inofensiva ]
In just two weeks, it became the most common in the samples analyzed, as it was detected in 47 of 88 cases (53.41%) studied. The remaining samples correspond to the delta variant.
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