Costa Rica begins vaccination against COVID-19

2020-12-24 23:05:54 GMT2020-12-25 07:05:54(Beijing Time) Xinhua English

SAN JOSE, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- A 91-year-old woman became the first person in Costa Rica on Thursday to receive the vaccine against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) disease, after the first 9,750 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine arrived Wednesday night.

Elizabeth Castillo received the first dose, along with Jorge de Ford, 72, in addition to Dr. Jose Acuna and nurse Tatiana Sancho, who work at the Specialized Center for the Care of Patients with COVID-19.

The president of Costa Rica, Carlos Alvarado, celebrated the application of the first vaccines and highlighted the effort that his country made to be the second in Latin America, after Mexico, to receive the first doses.

"This moment represents for the country the beginning of the path to end the COVID-19 pandemic," said the president, who was on hand for the application of vaccines at an extended-stay center for the elderly, accompanied by Minister of Health Daniel Salas and the executive president of the Costa Rican Social Security Fund, Roman Macaya.

"This is the best Christmas gift that can be given to the Costa Rican population because hope and energy return to redouble efforts to end the pandemic and move forward," said Alvarado.

Costa Rica has registered 161,942 confirmed cases of COVID-19 so far, of which 2,065 have died. Enditem

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