Portugal will resume vaccination with AstraZeneca next Monday, March 22, which has just been announced at a press conference by the Directorate-General for Health.
This decision arises after the conclusions of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), known today, and who say that this vaccine is safe and effective.
According to Rui Ivo, president of Infarmed, "it is very clear that the benefits outweigh the adverse reactions" and that the "vaccine is not associated with a general increase in blood clots."
Gouveia e Melo, coordinator of the vaccination task force, said that, now, the plan will be resumed, "recovering the delay that was made by the fact that we had been out of action for four or five days."
After the AstraZeneca vaccine have been suspended last Monday, March 15th, Gouveia e Melo estimated that “120 thousand people remained unvaccinated”, but it is something that “we will recover very quickly”.
"Another week, a week and a half we will have the plan recovered as if there had been no break", guaranteed the coordinator.
This resumption of vaccination with AstraZeneca will lead to teachers and school staff, who are now part of the priority phase, to start being vaccinated on the last weekend of March, the 27th and 28th.
Henrique Gouveia e Melo also revealed that, despite having been expected to deliver around 4,4 million AstraZeneca vaccines in the second quarter, the number was reduced to «1,5 million». Still, the plan has already been drawn up taking into account this break.
Asked about the suspension of the vaccine, now revoked, Graça Freitas, director-general of Health, explained that it was done according to the «precautionary principle».
The official also asked everyone to agree to be vaccinated, because if there is a vaccine circulating “it is because it is safe, effective and has quality”. Therefore, "if a person is offered a vaccine, whatever the brand, he must accept it," he said.
“It is a hypothesis that people should not refuse, otherwise they run the risk of developing a serious illness. They are at risk of remaining vulnerable to serious illness. I appeal to them to think very carefully before refusing a vaccine, whatever the brand, “he concluded.
Comments