Costa Rica’s Constitutional Chamber Declared Mandatory Vaccination

On September 21, 2021, Costa Rica’s Constitutional Chamber declared that “enough  global testing and monitoring has been done to declare the vaccines as a safe and effective mean of protection against COVID-19.”

The same day, the institution communicated that mandatory vaccination for health workers is included in the constitutional laws of the country.

Article #46 of the Costa Rican Civil Code states “any person is free to reject undergoing medical and surgical procedures except for mandatory vaccinations and other measures aimed to protect public health,” written on September 28, 1887.

With a similar purpose, Article 147 of the Costa Rican General Health Law, published by the Ministry of Health, states that “every person shall obey the legal and mandatory ruling regarding measures destined to preventing the spread of transmissible and preventable illnesses,” written on October 30, 1973.

At the same time, the Costa Rican Social Security, also known as CAJA, declared they will apply sanctions and conduct disciplinary investigations to 35 health workers who refused to get vaccinated.

13 formal complaints by health workers refusing the vaccine were turned down by the Chamber, stating that “getting the jabs has proven to be a much safer alternative than getting infected while being unvaccinated. Thousands of millions of people all around the world have already received the shots, and enough testing and monitoring has been done to declare them past their experimental trials.”

Costa Rica’s constitutional obligation of guaranteeing the universal human right to be healthy, and ensuring the protection of public health, makes it possible to justify mandatory vaccination as a legal sanitary measure.

The Constitutional Chamber and the Ministry of Health state that refusing vaccination is not an individual choice but a matter of public health and that the country will abide by its laws in order to ensure the immunity and safety of its public workers and their patients.

With mandatory vaccination among public health personnel being justified and already implemented, it is yet to be seen if Costa Rica will move forward and request this same measure in other fields and parts of the population

 References:

https://www.nacion.com/opinion/editorial/editorial-obligatoriedad-de-las-vacunas/SPN2IY26HRGBXFCAIZ652PUK3A/story/

http://www.pgrweb.go.cr/scij/Busqueda/Normativa/Normas/nrm_articulo.aspx?param1=NRA&nValor1=1&nValor2=15437&nValor3=90115&nValor5=88941

http://www.pgrweb.go.cr/scij/Busqueda/Normativa/Normas/nrm_articulo.aspx?param1=NRA&nValor1=1&nValor2=6581&nValor3=112234&nValor5=38230

https://www.nacion.com/el-pais/salud/ccss-abrio-procedimientos-disciplinarios-a-35/DWPSCFCMOBEQXHO7BXIRBXV52M/story/

https://www.nacion.com/opinion/editorial/editorial-obligatoriedad-de-las-vacunas/SPN2IY26HRGBXFCAIZ652PUK3A/story/