Portugal is a world reference in vaccination

Portugal remains an international reference in vaccination, with 98% to 99% of children vaccinated in the first year of life, according to the 2024 annual report of the National Vaccination Program of the Directorate-General for Health released this Wednesday.

“Coverage rates remain very high up to six years of age, generally reaching or exceeding the 95% target ,” the report highlights.

The DGS highlights that 86% of children born between August 2024 and March 2025 in mainland Portugal were vaccinated against the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) during the first seasonal immunization campaign.

According to the health authority, “the high coverage achieved contributed to a substantial reduction in hospitalizations due to RSV in children up to six months of age”.

The report also highlights the increase, between 2023 and 2024, in vaccination coverage for the first and second doses of the vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR).

At two years, the increase was from 98% to 99% and at six years it was from 95% to 96%.

According to the report, vaccination coverage against HPV (human papillomavirus) infections in girls remained high, exceeding the 90% target.

Among boys, the trend seen in recent years of progressively increasing vaccination coverage in the different age groups under analysis continues, approaching that achieved in girls, and exceeding the 90% target in the 15-year-old group.

For the combined vaccine against tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis and polio (DTPaVIP), coverage of 93% was achieved in children who reached six years of age.

The data also indicate that, in the vaccine against N. meningitidis serogroup B (MenB), 97% of children who reached two years of age had completed the three-dose schedule.

Regarding vaccination against whooping cough in pregnancy, data estimate that, in 2024, approximately 80.4% of eligible pregnant women will have been vaccinated with the Tdpa vaccine.

In 2024, 370 cases of suspected adverse reactions to vaccines included in the PNV were reported, which, compared to the total number of vaccines administered in that year, corresponds to approximately 12.8 cases of ADR [notification of adverse reactions) per 100,000 vaccines administered.

Of these, 215 were considered serious, which is equivalent to 7.5 cases of serious ADR per 100,000 vaccines administered.

The DGS emphasizes that “the notification of a suspected ADR does not imply, in itself, a causal relationship between the administration of the vaccine and the reported event”, and that each case requires an individualized technical assessment, carried out by experts from the national drug authority (Infarmed).

Last year, 3,038,148 registrations and 246,072 transcriptions were made in the “Vaccines” information system for people residing in mainland Portugal, and developments are underway in the “Vaccines” system for “a better characterization of the administrations carried out within the scope of the National Vaccination Program”.

For the first time, the PNV Annual Report 2024 has vaccination results broken down by municipality.

The Director-General of Health, Rita Sá Machado, states in the document that the results disaggregated by municipality make “visible some of the geographical asymmetries that constitute potential strategic targets for action, not only by teams of health professionals, but also by all relevant partners, including civil society, who are motivated to develop initiatives that contribute to this legacy that belongs to everyone and for everyone”.

The DGS also released this Wednesday the Seasonal Vaccination Campaign Report for autumn-winter 2024-2025, which recorded almost 4 million vaccines administered, in SNS units and community pharmacies.

This campaign was reinforced with the introduction of the high-dose flu vaccine for the population aged 85 and over, which also achieved very high vaccination coverage.

Maximum vaccination coverage occurred in the population aged 85 years or older. And minimum vaccination coverage was observed in the population aged between 60 and 64 years, both for vaccination against COVID-19 and against influenza.