Sharjah24 – Reuters: Costa Rica will offer a fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to the immunocompromised and to those over 50, the country's Health Ministry said on Monday.

The fourth dose will be optional and can be applied three months after the third shot, said Dr. Roberto Arroba, secretary of the National Commission for Vaccination and Epidemiology at the Ministry of Health.

More than 85% of the Central American country's population has received at least one shot, while 79% have had two doses, and 41% have received a third vaccine, according to official data.

"We have applied more than 10.6 million doses. We are part of the select group of countries in the world that has more than 85% of its population vaccinated with at least one dose," President Carlos Alvarado said on Monday in his last speech as president.

Costa Rica has registered 852,000 cases of COVID-19 and 8,405 deaths throughout the pandemic, according to data published on Friday.