Madeira's seasonal flu vaccination campaign, which began on 30 September and runs until the end of March 2027, had delivered 19,102 doses by 25 October, according to the regional health directorate (Direcção Regional de Saúde). Of those, 12,494 went to people aged over 65, a coverage rate of 21.4% for that group. The overall regional coverage rate stood at 7.2%, dnoticias.pt reports.
The campaign is aimed at people at greater risk of complications from respiratory infections. The regional health authority's latest seasonal vaccination bulletin covers the period from 30 September to 25 October.
Why it matters
Vaccination remains one of the most effective ways to lower the risk of severe illness, hospitalisation and death from respiratory infections, the directorate said. It also argues that wider uptake eases pressure on health services during the months when respiratory viruses circulate most.
The directorate framed the decision in terms of shared responsibility, describing vaccination as an act of individual protection that also carries a collective duty. Protecting oneself, it said, helps shield those around us, particularly the most vulnerable.
Who is eligible and how the doses are split
Flu vaccination is recommended for children aged between six months and four years, people aged 60 and over, those with underlying health conditions, people living in vulnerable settings, and health professionals, among other groups.
Shots are free at health centres across the region, with opening hours and appointment procedures published locally by each unit. The regional government spent around €800,000 on 53,000 flu doses for this season: 36,000 standard doses and 17,000 high doses.
The high-dose version is intended for people aged 75 and over and for residents of certain care and residential facilities. By 25 October, 6,862 high-dose vaccines and 12,240 standard doses had been given.
Santana had the highest municipal coverage at 15.1%, with 1,004 doses administered, followed by Calheta at 11.2% with 1,302 doses. Every other municipality remained below 10%.
Covid-19 doses and co-administration
The region also has 11,580 Covid-19 vaccines available, supplied by the national government. The latest Covid-19 seasonal bulletin puts regional coverage at 1.2%, with 3,322 doses administered by 25 October 2026. All went to adults, most of them over 70: 2,074 doses in that age group, a coverage rate of 5.1%.
Flu and Covid-19 vaccines can be given at the same time without any interval between them. Patients may also choose to receive just one, or to take one and return later for the other.
Mainland campaign and supply constraints
On the Portuguese mainland, the autumn-winter 2026-2027 campaign is running at National Health Service (SNS) units, participating community pharmacies and other designated vaccination sites, also until 31 March 2027.
The SNS purchased 2,330,000 standard-dose flu vaccines and 369,000 high-dose vaccines. That is 187,000 more standard doses and 12,000 more high-dose vaccines than in the previous campaign.
For Covid-19, the 2026-2027 strategy is more narrowly focused on groups at highest risk of severe illness, hospitalisation and death. Primary vaccination continues year-round, but eligibility is restricted to specific groups with greater clinical risk.
The flu campaign's eligible population has been widened to include children aged six months to four years, pregnant women, people aged 18 to 59 with qualifying risk conditions, and everyone aged 60 and over, among others.
The national medicines regulator, Infarmed, has warned of a Europe-wide shortage of flu vaccines. In Portugal, this has limited the supply available in community pharmacies for people outside the campaign who have a medical prescription. Infarmed said the constraint does not affect doses reserved for eligible campaign groups, and recommended that pharmacy stock dispensed on prescription not be used for people covered by the campaign.
Nationwide, 1,339,486 flu doses had been administered by 25 October, according to Directorate-General of Health data: 689,106 at participating pharmacies and 650,380 at SNS units. Among people aged 60 and over, more than 1.1 million had been vaccinated, a coverage rate of 35.24%. For those aged 85 and over, coverage reached 44.24%, with 177,882 people vaccinated.
More than 600,000 people had received seasonal Covid-19 vaccination on the mainland. Coverage was highest among those aged 85 and over at 27.3%, and lowest in the 60 to 69 age bracket at 9.12%.
What to watch: whether Madeira's municipal coverage rates, currently below 10% in all but two councils, improve before the campaign closes at the end of March 2027, and how the European flu vaccine shortage affects pharmacy supply on the mainland.
