Vaccine Dispensing Through Private Community Pharmacies in Costa Rica: A National Descriptive Analysis

Pharmacist involvement in immunization has expanded as a strategy to improve access to vaccines. In Costa Rica, private community pharmacies operate under a regulatory framework for vaccination services, yet evidence on private-market vaccine dispensing remains limited. The aim of this study was to characterize vaccine dispensing through private community pharmacies in Costa Rica by dispensed doses, economic value, vaccine category, and provincial distribution, comparing MAT February 2025 and MAT February 2026.

A descriptive, retrospective, national study was conducted using an aggregated secondary IQVIA database of the Costa Rican private pharmaceutical market. Dispensed doses, economic value in USD, percentage variation, and share by vaccine category and province were analyzed; no individual patient, professional, establishment, or nominal vaccination records were used.

Dispensed doses increased from 162,664 to 217,387 (+33.6%), while economic value increased from USD 8,700,809 to USD 13,416,717 (+54.2%). Influenza accounted for the highest dispensing volume in MAT February 2026 (87,064 doses). Yellow fever showed the largest between-period increase, from 22,281 to 70,133 doses and from USD 2.7 million to USD 7.0 million. HPV ranked second in economic value (USD 3.6 million). San José accounted for 63.0% of dispensed doses and 52.9% of national private-market economic value.

Private-market vaccine dispensing through Costa Rican community pharmacies was higher in MAT February 2026 than in MAT February 2025 in both dispensed doses and economic value, driven primarily by yellow fever. Influenza accounted for the highest dispensing volume, while HPV retained substantial economic weight. These findings characterize vaccine dispensing through the private community pharmacy market but do not establish vaccine administration, vaccination coverage, or clinical or epidemiological outcomes.