The seasonal vaccination campaign against flu and covid-19 in 2023 and 2024, which is still ongoing, is marked by the involvement of community pharmacies, which will have allowed “optimization of opportunities” for immunization, points out the Ministry of Health, in a statement sent this Friday.
In addition to the unprecedented number of flu vaccinations, the guardianship reveals that more than 1.9 million people (1,988,679) are protected against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the Covid-19 disease.
In the current vaccination campaign, people over 50 can receive the flu vaccine. The booster against Covid-19 is available to those over 18 years of age. In addition to pharmacies, National Health Service units, such as health centers, are also administering vaccines.
Last year, within the scope of the National Vaccination Plan (PNV), the Government reveals that more than 7.3 million vaccines were administered in Portugal. The PNV is a free and accessible program for all people residing in the national territory. The plan includes the administration of vaccines against diseases that could pose a danger to public health, such as measles or rubella.
The Ministry of Health also points out in a statement that an ordinance was published that establishes the operating model of the PNV, taking into account the reorganization of the National Health Service. As an example, if previously it was the Regional Health Administrations (ARS) that signaling to the Shared Services of the Ministry of Health the vaccination needs in each region and being responsible for the acquisition processes, these tasks are now up to the Local Health Units (ULS).
The Shared Services of the Ministry of Health remain responsible, as before, for the centralized acquisition of vaccines. It should be remembered that the Council of Ministers this Thursday, March 21, approved the extinction of the ARS, with the functions of these bodies being transferred to the ULS.
