AH1N1 Vaccination Is
Mandatory, Salud Will Use Force If Necessary
Marylin Azofeifa Marín, a 27 year old
pregnant woman from Coronado, was the first
to receive the AH1N1 vaccine that arrived in
Costa Rica last week. Dr. María Luisa Ávila,
the ministra de Salud (Health minister),
personally administered the first of the
199.333 doses of the vaccine against the
AH1N1 flu virus.
The vaccine is being purchased by the Caja
Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) from
the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)
and being administered to all Costa Ricans
free of charge.
The shipment of almost 200.000 doses arrived
last week is part of Costa Rica's order for
1.6 million doses, which are expected to
arrive in the coming months.
Ministra Ávila said that the vaccine is
mandatory.
Those identified in the high risk group -
pregnant women, diabetics, patients with
asthma, hyper tension, the obese and those
working in the health care field - will be
the first to be vaccinated.
To show faith in the vaccine, Dr. Ávila got
her shot in front of the cameras, saying it
is important to be protected as she visits
local hospitals, clinics and patients on a
regular basis.
Eduardo Doryan, president of the CCSS, said
the focus of the vaccination will be in
areas where there have been more cases of
the AH1N1 and then will move to all other
areas.
The vice-ministra de Salud, Ana Morice,
explained that the CCSS will be compiling a
list from medical records of persons that
are required to be vaccinated, especially in
the Metropolitan (San José) area.
Morice said those people will be notified by
telephone, by the news media and by
door-to-door visits by Salud officials where
there is an address on file.
"The vaccination is mandatory. It is
important that the population go to the
clinics. We will first make call to those
who are to be vaccinated, then we will go
looking for them if they do not come in",
said Morice.
The vice-ministra said that those people on
the list who do not want to receive the
vaccine, will be obligated to do so. "The
idea is not use force, even though we have
the right to go with the police to pull
people from their homes and take them to a
medical centre to be vaccinated", explained
Morice.
The mandatory vaccination is based on
government decree 35703-S of the Ley General
de Salud published on January 21, 2010 in
the official government publication, La
Gaceta.
Morice explained that the only exceptions to
the vaccination are those allergic to eggs
and mercury, because the effects of the dose
against AH1N1 may be worse. Also, those who
have been infected will no be vaccinated as
the possibility of re-infection is only 5%.
The vaccine is not being sold in pharmacies
and is only available at CCSS hospitals and
clinics known as Ebais and applied by Salud
officials.
Dr. Ávila said that the vaccine may have
some side effects like reddening and
swelling of the area where the vaccine is
applied, but will disappear within 24 hours. |
|
|
Marylin Azofeifa Marín (right) was the first to get vaccinated on Monday by
Dr. María Luisa Ávila, the ministra de Salud. |
