The health areas of Liberia, Carrillo, Nicoya and Santa Cruz urge people over 58 years of age in those cantons who haven’t yet received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to contact them.
They haven’t been able to contact many of them because they have outdated data. Others are indifferent to vaccination and others confirm that they’ll go to the appointment but in the end, they don’t show up, according to officials from the different health areas.
To vaccinate this group, the health areas are implementing different strategies. The Municipality of Carrillo set up a phone line to help register people in the canton’s health area, and other EBAIS clinics are holding mass vaccination campaigns with or without an appointment beforehand.
Here are the numbers to call or places to go if you or a family member belongs to group 2 (over 58) but hasn’t received the first dose.
Carrillo
- Call 2103-1935 to update your information. Have on hand your full name, identification number, telephone number and the name of the EBAIS that is your registered provider. Then your corresponding EBAIS will contact you to schedule your appointment.
- On Saturday, May 15, the EBAIS of Carrillo will hold a vaccination campaign in the Filadelfia community hall. On that day, people assigned to that care unit will be able to go without an appointment. The campaign is scheduled for 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Liberia
- Send a message via WhatsApp or a regular text message to 6297-8802 with the following four pieces of information: full name, identification number, telephone number and age.
Nicoya
- Call or go to the respective EBAIS to schedule the vaccination appointment.
- If you are enrolled in the EBAIS of Nambi and San Antonio, they will hold vaccination campaigns at their facilities on Friday, May 14. You can go without an appointment beforehand.
Santa Cruz
- Call 2680-4719 or 2680-2974 to update your information and have an appointment scheduled for you.
- If you are registered in the central EBAIS of Santa Cruz or Santa Barbara, they will hold vaccination campaigns at their facilities on Saturday, May 15, starting at 8 a.m. You can go without having an appointment.
Getting to Group 3
It is essential for the health areas to vaccinate a minimum of 80% of group 2— those over 58 years of age— to move on to group 3 vaccination, people between 16 and 57 with risk factors. But for some areas, reaching that percentage hasn’t been easy.
“The biggest problem that we’ve had is because many of the users are on the list but their data isn’t updated,” said Francel Gomez, the head of nursing for the Carrillo Health Area. “There are also people who have lived in Carrillo for years but have stayed enrolled in areas where they previously lived,” she added.
The health area, which has vaccinated about 70% of the second group, asked the municipality to help speed up the effort to contact people over 58 who have not received the vaccine.
The muni set up the number 2103-1935 where people can update their information and get their appointment scheduled. In this way, they hope to add about 2,000 more people to reach 80% of the second group and move on to the third group.
That is the reality in the cantons of Nicoya and Santa Cruz too, where they have also vaccinated less than 80% of people in the second group.
The head of the Nicoya Health Area, Luis Carlos Villalobos, especially wants to encourage the population of Nambi, San Antonio and Nicoya to contact their corresponding EBAIS health center, update their information and schedule vaccination.
Both Villalobos and the head of nursing for the Santa Cruz Health Area, Mayela Ramirez, hope to reach 80% this very week. In Nicoya, for example, that means vaccinating about 1,500 people in the remainder of the week.
Other areas have already started vaccinating the third group, including Nandayure, Abangares, Hojancha, Cañas and Bagaces.
If you belong to the third group, contact your corresponding health area to make sure they have your updated information. Remember that if you go to a private doctor’s office for your medical care, you have to ask your doctor for proof to present it and be included on the list.
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