Costa Rica becomes first country to make COVID vaccination compulsory for kids

On Saturday, Costa Rica became the first country in the world to make COVID vaccinations mandatory for children. In a statement, health officials asserted that the anti-coronavirus shots would be compulsory for everybody under the age of 18 years, as reported by PerthNow. Notably, the Central American country has already enlisted certain vaccines including those against chickenpox and polio as compulsory for children under the law.

“Parents and guardians, as well as various government agencies, are urged to act to ensure that children and teens receive their inoculation within "a timely manner," the statement read. Meanwhile, a discreet report by BBC revealed that the country has already inked a deal with vaccine manufacturers Pfizer/BioNTech to secure 3.5 million doses. The administration is planning to start its vaccination campaign for children from March next year for which it has already reserved 1.5 million of the procured jabs.

Since the outbreak, Costa Rica has registered a total of 562,316 cases out of which 7,134 have died. Meanwhile, more than 53% of the country’s population has been fully vaccinated. Additionally, roughly 73% of teens between 12 and 19   have been inoculated with at least one vaccine shot.

US approves Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for kids below 12 years

A White House statement earlier this week announced that the US will commence its vaccination programmes for kids between ages 5 and 11 years from next week. However, it was up to a panel of medical experts to decide if the anti-COVID shots should be made available to all school-going children or not. On Tuesday, the team belonging to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) deliberated upon the same, discussing at length whether the jabs would be beneficial to all 28 million children in the country. A final recommendation from the body came hours after, giving a final clearance to the Pfizer/BioNTech shots. 

At an earlier press briefing, White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients announced that all children belonging to the age group between 5 to 11 years will be able to receive Pfizer/BioNTech doses at paediatrician offices, medical clinics, pharmacies and community health centres. “There’s plenty of supply of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and we look forward to parents having the opportunity to vaccinate their kids,” he told reporters.

Representative Image: AP