In an interview with the Lusa news agency, to mark the two years of the first cases of covid infection in Portugal, the Director General of Health, Graça Freitas, stated that "if everything remains as it is now, in the coming years the trend will be towards a selective and seasonal vaccination against Covid-19, dependant on the new vaccines that are under investigation."
The official said that the pharmaceutical industry and scientific research are “working for new vaccines with other characteristics and, above all, that have a broader spectrum of action, that are not only directed by a variant and that have a longer duration of immunity.” This would mean that the vaccination strategy may need to be revised.
“What I mean by this selective vaccination is 'risk groups', the people who benefit most from vaccination. Seasonal, because the expectation we have is that with this virus, it will be best to give a vaccination in the Winter to give additional protection during the most aggressive season”, she explained.
But Graça Freitas insisted that the evolution of vaccination against Covid-19 “in the short and medium term” will depend on existing vaccines, which may imply a review of the vaccination strategy.
Regarding vaccination against Covid-19 in children aged 5 to 11 years, she said that “given the characteristics of the disease in children and the perception of risk, adherence was quite good”. Vaccination services remain open to vaccinate any child who has not yet been vaccinated. “We remain open and we will always have periods dedicated to the vaccination of children over time. Whoever takes the decision in the meantime can go to the health services and find out when their child can be vaccinated. It’s not a service that ends,” she explained.
