According to the 2024 annual report of the National Vaccination Programme of the Directorate-General for Health, “Coverage remains very high up to six years of age, generally reaching or exceeding the target of 95%”.

The DGS highlights that 86% of children born between August 2024 and March 2025 in mainland Portugal were vaccinated against the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) during the first seasonal immunization campaign.

According to the health authority, “the high coverage achieved contributed to a substantial reduction in hospitalisations due to RSV in children up to six months of age”.

The report also indicates an increase in vaccination coverage for the first and second doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine between 2023 and 2024.

In two years, the increase went from 98% to 99% and in six years it went from 95% to 96%.

According to the report, vaccination coverage against HPV (human papillomavirus) infections in girls remained high, exceeding the 90% target.

In boys, the trend observed in recent years of progressively increasing vaccination coverage in the different age groups under analysis continues, approaching that achieved in girls and exceeding the 90% target in the 15-year-old group.

For the combined vaccine against tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis and polio (DTPaVIP), coverage of 93% was achieved in children who were six years old.

The data also indicate that, in the N. meningitidis serogroup B (MenB) vaccine, 97% of children who turned two years old had received the complete three-dose schedule.

Regarding vaccination against whooping cough during pregnancy, the data estimate that, in 2024, approximately 80.4% of eligible pregnant women were vaccinated with the Tdpa vaccine.

In 2024, 370 cases of suspected adverse reactions to vaccines included in the PNV were reported, which, given the total number of vaccines administered that year, corresponds to approximately 12.8 cases of ADR [reported adverse reactions) per 100,000 vaccines administered.

Of these, 215 were considered serious, which is equivalent to 7.5 cases of serious ADR per 100,000 vaccines administered.

The DGS emphasises that “the notification of a suspected ADR does not imply, in itself, a causal relationship between the administration of the vaccine and the reported event”, and that each case requires an individualised technical assessment, carried out by experts from the national drug authority (Infarmed).

For the first time, the 2024 Annual Report of the PNV has the vaccination results broken down by municipality.

The Director-General of Health, Rita Sá Machado, states in the document that the results disaggregated by municipality make “some of the geographic asymmetries visible that constitute potential strategic targets for action, not only by teams of health professionals, but also by all relevant partners, including civil society, who are motivated to develop initiatives that contribute to this legacy that belongs to and for everyone”.

The DGS also released today the Report of the Seasonal Vaccination Campaign for the autumn-winter 2024-2025, which recorded almost 4 million vaccines administered in SNS units and community pharmacies.

This campaign was reinforced with the introduction of the high-dose flu vaccine for the population aged 85 and over, which also achieved very high vaccination coverage.

The maximum vaccination coverage occurred in the population aged 85 and over. And minimum vaccination coverage was observed in the population aged between 60 and 64 years, both in vaccination against COVID-19 and against influenza.