The result of the national vaccination process against Covid-19, which reached close to 87% of the population's coverage, will have prevented the death of almost two thousand people since May until now, defended today the epidemiologist Henrique Barros.
"Since May until now, the adhesion of the Portuguese to the vaccine will have saved around 200 infections, 135 fewer days in the ward, 55 fewer days in intensive care units, and around XNUMX lives have been saved," said the epidemiologist at the Institute of Public Health of the University of Porto (ISPUP) at the meeting to assess the situation of the pandemic in Portugal, at the headquarters of Infarmed, in Lisbon.
In an intervention entitled “Understanding how the pandemic evolved”, the expert outlined some comparative scenarios with the past and the current moment of the epidemiological situation of Covid-19, concluding that it was “extraordinarily evident” that the increase in the number of infections was “part of a lower base, as a reflection of vaccination” and with a notable effect on the distribution of the disease across age groups.
“The age group of people over 80 years old, which was one of the most affected, is now completely surpassed by the group from 5 to 10 years old, in which we still do not use vaccination”, he stressed, noting that “the Portuguese situation in the hierarchy cases and deaths is much better than a year ago, compared to others and to himself”.
Despite this evolution, the specialist advised that, given the epidemiological situation at the moment, "it might make sense to advise against meetings with many people, the so-called social meetings with more than 50 people", taking into account the panorama of infections that has been registered in the last weeks.
For Henrique Barros, vaccination is the "fundamental protection measure", and that is why he called for the vaccination of children as soon as the authorities allow administration under 12 years of age, as well as the taking of a booster dose for the already eligible population. . However, it also highlighted the need to maintain individual non-pharmacological measures, epidemiological surveillance and adequate planning of the clinical response.
In the analysis of data from nearly two years of Covid-19, the ISPUP epidemiologist also mentioned that it is already possible to observe the “design of an unequivocal picture of seasonal presentation and that indicates very well the endemic transformation” of contact with the SARS-virus. CoV-2 on national soil.
In Portugal, since March 2020, 18.300 people have died and 1.117.451 cases of infection have been recorded, according to data from the General Directorate of Health.
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