Portugal's Directorate-General of Health (DGS) reported on Tuesday that 507,465 people received a flu vaccine between September 30 and October 11, the opening stretch of the country's autumn–winter seasonal campaign. Pharmacies that joined the effort administered 304,448 of those doses, while National Health Service (SNS) units gave the remaining 203,017, according to the first vaccination report cited by Observador.
The figures put pharmacies ahead of public health units in volume, a pattern the DGS data shows across the campaign's early phase.
Why it matters
The split matters because Portugal has leaned on community pharmacies as a delivery channel for seasonal shots, and the early numbers suggest that approach is carrying most of the load. The campaign also introduces a change in how coverage is measured, which affects how the country's progress will be read against previous years.
The DGS said it now uses annual resident population estimates published by the National Statistics Institute (INE) to calculate flu and Covid-19 vaccination coverage. The directorate said the switch lets coverage figures reflect more current demographic shifts in Portugal's resident population and keeps its indicators aligned with official national statistics.
Who has been vaccinated so far
Among people aged 60 and older, more than 452,000 have received a flu shot, a coverage rate of 13.8% for that group. That is slightly behind the 14.7% coverage recorded for people aged 85 and older, according to the DGS data reported by Observador.
For the current campaign, the SNS purchased roughly 2.3 million standard-dose flu vaccines and another 369,000 high-dose vaccines. One of the campaign's new elements is the extension of free vaccination to children between 2 and 4 years old.
On the Covid-19 side, 229,043 people have received the seasonal booster, with 141,736 doses given at pharmacies and 87,307 through the SNS. Covid-19 coverage trails flu coverage in every age bracket, the report states.
The highest Covid-19 coverage appears in the 80-to-84 age group at 11.1%, while the lowest is among people aged 60 to 69 at 3.3%.
Pharmacies turn to AI scheduling tools
On Monday, the National Association of Pharmacies (ANF) said more than 800 pharmacies are using new technology from Portuguese company Sword to address vaccine hesitancy and make booking easier. The ANF said the AI-based tool supports the distribution of vaccination information and simplifies scheduling at participating pharmacies.
The association described the initiative as complementary to the work of pharmacy teams, strengthening their ability to promote health literacy, answer questions and ease access to vaccination. Sword projects that the tool could lift the number of people vaccinated at pharmacies by about 10%, which the ANF said could mean up to 100,000 additional people protected.
Eligibility and campaign timeline
The autumn–winter 2026–2027 flu and Covid-19 vaccination campaign runs until March 31 and involves around 2,550 participating pharmacies.
At pharmacies, flu vaccination is available to people aged 60 to 84 and to those aged 18 to 59 who have a risk condition. Covid-19 vaccination at pharmacies is open to people aged 70 to 84, as well as those aged 18 to 69 with risk conditions.
The DGS published the figures as the first report of the campaign, meaning the totals cover only the first 12 days of a drive scheduled to last roughly six months. With pharmacies handling the bulk of early flu doses and a new scheduling tool now in place at hundreds of locations, the coming weeks will show whether the projected gains in pharmacy vaccinations materialize and whether Covid-19 uptake narrows the gap with flu.
