The Social Security Service (CCSS) in Costa Rica confirmed this Sunday they have only 5 available beds in ICU for critical COVID-19 patients. On Saturday hospitals had run out of beds for critical patients; CCSS had to relocate some patients to make some beds available, others became available after the passing of other critical patients.

“We have reached a maximum capacity, it is very painful to say it, but we have reached a maximum capacity, and we cannot increase it anymore”, commented Mario Ruiz, medical manager of the CCSS, he added: “this is the first time we have patients waiting to be transferred to a critical care bed.”

According to experts, the behavior of the virus has changed and now there is a higher number of patients that arrive at the hospital in an extremely complicated or critical state”.

Costa Rica expects to start vaccinating people in the first trimester of 2021, with the elderly population and their caregivers as the first group to receive the vaccine in the public health system.

“The date for the vaccine to be available in the private sector is still to be defined, it will depend on the regulations and protocols each country has to handle the pandemic. We expect it to be available in the second semester of 2021”, stated AstraZeneca in an interview with local news outlet AmeliaRueda.com