Task force estimates 950,000 people vaccinated by April

The first vaccinations against Covid-19 are to arrive in Portugal on December 24 or 26 and it is estimated that 950,000 people will be vaccinated by April, the Vaccination Plan Task Force coordinator has said.

According to Pfizer’s provisional timetable for vaccine delivery, 9,750 doses will be delivered in December, January 303,225, February 429,000 and March 487,500.

“The information we have is that the first vaccinations will arrive in Portugal on December 24 or 26 and we will be able to start the vaccination. In fact, what is agreed in European terms is that all 27 member states will start vaccination from December 27 to 29,” said the coordinator of the task force for the vaccination process, Francisco Ramos, at the end of a meeting on Thursday with journalists at which the ‘Covid vaccination plan’ was presented.

“The number of doses that will arrive is 9,700, so in this last week of the year we will only vaccinate health professionals, who are also part of the priority groups indicated and who are the ones we want to protect, those who protect us,” he said.

On January 5, Portugal will receive another 300,000 doses, which means that during that month there are conditions to vaccinate around 120,000 people living in homes and another 20,000 health professionals.

The difference between the number of vaccine doses available and the number of people vaccinated is due to the need to save doses for the second dose from those who have already started the process.

“We will immediately save a dose for all those who have started the vaccination, to ensure that it will be available for this to happen,” Francisco Ramos said.