Costa Rica becomes first country in the world to mandate COVID vaccine for children

(by Pierre Boralevi | LifeSite News) – Costa Rica became the first country in the world to make vaccination against COVID-19 mandatory for everyone under age 18.

The Costa Rican Health Ministry announced the decision in a statement released Friday, November 5, and said the aim of the mandate was to “safeguard the best interests of the children.”

It also stated that “the parents or legal guardians are legally responsible for ensuring that the mandatory vaccination of minors is carried out in a timely manner.”

In addition, the statement indicated that teenagers age 15 or over will be able to receive the vaccine against COVID-19 without having to be accompanied by an adult.

The decision came only a week after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave its approval to administering Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to children age 5-11 despite limited safety data and all but-nonexistent need. The approval, which was requested by Pfizer less than a month earlier, was since endorsed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

The Costa Rican government cited the FDA approval in its statement and said it expects to start vaccinating children age 12 and younger as early as 2022.

Costa Rica closed a deal with Pfizer for the purchase of 3.5 million vaccine doses, of which 1.5 million will be used for children age 5-11.

According to the statement by the Health Ministry, 73% of all Costa Ricans age 12 to 19 have already received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine since October 25, when the vaccination campaign for that age group started. And to date, 55% of Costa Rica’s total population (of some 5 million people) has been fully vaccinated.

The Costa Rican Ministry of Health did not specify any age limit for the new vaccine mandate of under 18s.

In doing so, the small Central American nation has become the first in the world to mandate vaccination to virtually all children. According to the statement, COVID shots will be added to the list of vaccines already mandated to Costa Rican children such as those against chickenpox, polio, and HPV (human papillomavirus).

Meanwhile, some world-renowned medical scientific experts have warned parents against allowing children to receive mRNA COVID vaccines. During an online forum held last September, the experts gathered unanimously assessed that the potential harm the COVID-19 jab could inflict on children far outweighs any benefit it might provide. The panel agreed this benefit is virtually nonexistent.

In addition, multiple scientists and physicians at an FDA advisory committee meeting where Pfizer’s COVID vaccines were endorsed for children age 5-11, raised strong objections, saying it was “unnecessary, premature and will do more harm than good.”

They argued that the safety data provided by Pfizer for use of its COVID vaccine on younger children is still insufficient, and that the risk of vaccine injury is greater for them than the risk posed by COVID itself.

Indeed, data have shown that children are at extremely low risk of suffering severe complications or death from contracting COVID-19.

On the other hand, the Pfizer vaccines, and other mRNA-like vaccines, have been associated with thousands of serious adverse events, including and especially among young people. In fact, a significant risk of myocarditis after receiving the Pfizer vaccine was cited by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) as one of the reasons to recommend it only to 12- to 15-year-olds who are at high risk from COVID. Read Full Article >