U.S. plans to donate Covid-19 vaccines to Costa Rica

Costa Rica is among the named recipients of Covid-19 vaccines that will be distributed globally by the United States, the White House announced.

The U.S. government on Thursday published its plans for distributing 25 million vaccines “in service of ending the pandemic globally.” Nineteen million of those will be sent to Covax, with an unspecified number allocated to Costa Rica.

Specifically, per the White House:

• Nearly 19 million will be shared through COVAX, with the following allocations:
  • Approximately 6 million for South and Central America to the following countries: Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay, Bolivia, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Haiti, and other Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries, as well as the Dominican Republic.
  • Approximately 7 million for Asia to the following countries and entities:  India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Maldives, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos, Papua New Guinea, Taiwan, and the Pacific Islands.
  • Approximately 5 million for Africa to be shared with countries that will be selected in coordination with the African Union.
• Approximately 6 million will be targeted toward regional priorities and partner recipients, including Mexico, Canada, and the Republic of Korea, West Bank and Gaza, Ukraine, Kosovo, Haiti, Georgia, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, and Yemen, as well as for United Nations frontline workers.

“The sharing of millions of U.S. vaccines with other countries signals a major commitment by the U.S. government,” a White House press release reads.

The White House indicated that adhering to regulatory and legal requirements “will take time, but [President Joe Biden] has directed the Administration to use all the levers of the U.S. government to protect individuals from this virus as quickly as possible.”

News of the U.S. vaccine donations comes the week Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Costa Rica during his first official trip to Latin America.

During a meeting at Casa Presidencial, Blinken and President Carlos Alvarado discussed vaccine equity and a possible U.S. donation of doses.

“Costa Rica welcomes the @POTUS plan to provide vaccines globally and strengthen the COVAX facility. This first allotment of 25 million doses will help increase the availability of vaccines to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic,” President Alvarado tweeted following Thursday’s announcement from the White House.

The White House has committed to sharing “at least 80 million U.S. vaccine doses globally by the end of June.”