Portugal’s DGS health authority has announced that all citizens who have recovered from Covid-19 infection will receive just one dose of vaccine “regardless of whether it is a vaccine that should be administered in one or two doses”.
The policy change seems to have been justified in this way: “The Vaccination Plan is dynamic, evolutive and adaptable to the evolution of scientific understanding and to the timing of arrival to Portugal of the various vaccines against Covid-19”.
Clearly the understanding is that people recovering from active infections will have a degree of immunity and therefore not require the double-dose (in the case of Pfizer, Moderna and/ or AstraZeneca vaccines).
Says Lusa, quoting from the DGS communique: “The objective is to save lives by reducing mortality and hospital admissions” and to “preserve the resilience of the health system and the system of response to the pandemic and the State”.
The decision will also save massively on vaccine doses, and help speed-up Portugal’s national plan which aims to have at least 70% of citizens vaccinated by August.
