The Directorate-General for Health (DGS) will extend the indication for flu vaccination to people aged 50 and over, the Minister of Health announced today.
“In a few hours, people over 50 will also be able to get vaccinated,” said Manuel Pizarro, at the inauguration of the Beato Health Unit, in Lisbon, noting that the decision has to do with the availability of vaccines.
To date, taking the flu vaccine is recommended for people aged 60 or over, but the decision of the Directorate-General for Health is to cover a wider range of the population, namely the age group between 50 and 59 years old.
«The distribution of these ages is based on a scientific assessment of the advantage of vaccination […]. What the DGS did was assess whether, if vaccines were still available, there was or was not an advantage for people's health in expanding the range of people who can be vaccinated», indicated Manuel Pizarro.
The DGS announcement about this decision will be made today, «in a few hours», according to the general director of Health Rita Sá Machado, who was also present at the inauguration of the Beato Health Unit.
Asked whether the expansion of flu vaccination also has to do with the record of excessive mortality between 45 and 64 years old, the Minister of Health stated that "there is no doubt that it was part of the rationale that led to this decision on the part of from DGS”.
Manuel Pizarro stressed that the figures on excessive mortality “have to be analyzed with due caution”, to understand the circumstances in which this occurred and what measures must be taken to correct this situation.
Without a coat to protect himself from the cold, the minister began by saying that as a “man from the North” he is used to lower temperatures, but in his speech outside the Beato Health Unit he admitted that he was not adequately dressed for this ceremony: «The DGS recommendations are that we should dress warmly when it's cold and I actually came a little reckless».
«To compensate, I will do my job of calling for vaccination», said the government official, arguing that it is the best form of protection against the flu, explaining that «it does not reduce the risk of having the flu, it greatly reduces the severity of the flu», which “makes all the difference”, especially in elderly people.
Manuel Pizarro reinforced that the vaccination season “is not over yet”, stating that it is possible to get the flu and covid-19 vaccine “in more than 1.000 health centers and in more than 2.500 pharmacies”.
Regarding the flu vaccination coverage rate for people over 60 years of age, which last week was around 63%, according to official data, below that recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), the minister explained that the group of people between 60 and The 64 year olds who were advised this year to get vaccinated did not comply as expected.
«This year, for the first time, we changed the population group recommended for flu vaccination: all people over 60 years of age. In other years it was above 65. Now, this allows me to say that we had never vaccinated so many people in absolute numbers, it is even the record for flu vaccines», stressed the government official.
«Having introduced people between 60 and 64 years of age into the indication group [for vaccination], this year we have not yet managed to have the same adherence in this age group as we have had in other years. We have even slightly higher adherence among people over 80 years of age. We have the same adherence as last year among people between 70 and 79 years old,” she pointed out, reiterating the call for vaccination.
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