The National Medical Union demanded the Costa Rican President, Rodrigo Chaves, to show the scientific support used to revoke the mandatory vaccination against covid-19.
In a letter sent on Sunday, the Union reminded Chaves that the National Vaccination and Epidemiology Commission is the only entity authorized to issue criteria on the appropriateness of mandatory vaccination, according to article 3 of the National Vaccination Law.
The medical union requested the President and his Minister of Health, Joselyn Chacón, to show the National Commission of Vaccination’s agreement in which the obligatory nature of the vaccines against covid-19 was eliminated, as well as “a copy of the epidemiological, technical and scientific criteria evidence-based upon which the decision was founded.”
The Medical Union voiced its concern over the presidential decision: “As physicians, who have been on the front line fighting for the lives of our people for more than two years, we are forced to strongly question these first decisions of his mandate.
They are not in accordance with scientific evidence and the reality we have experienced in our recent history; therefore, we demand consistency and common sense in the decisions taken on health issues, which is a fundamental human right.”
Additionally, the union described Chaves’ decrees to eliminate the use of masks and to lift the mandatory vaccination requirement as “incongruent” with the epidemiological reality.
“Both measures, in the midst of the beginning of the fifth wave of covid, seem incompatible with the national epidemiological reality and seem to ignore the tragic deaths this pandemic has left in our country,” said Edwin Solano, president of the union.
Chaves signed two decrees on Sunday:
- The first decree was eliminated the obligatory nature of the vaccine against covid-19 and removed the sanction for public officials who refuse the inoculation
- The second decree eliminates the use of face masks in all areas.
Several health experts and epidemiologists have issued statements against Chaves’ decision. Doctors understand the population’s desire to eliminate masks, but also explained the timing is not right.
