DGS expands indications for flu vaccination from 50 years of age and older

The Directorate General of Health (DGS) will expand the indications for flu vaccination to people aged 50 years and over, the Health Minister announced this Friday.

“In a few hours, people over 50 will also be able to be vaccinated,” Manuel Pizarro said at the opening of the Beato Medical Center in Lisbon, noting that the decision was linked to the availability of vaccines.

Currently, the flu shot is recommended for people aged 60 and over, but the Directorate General of Health’s decision is to cover a wider range of the population, namely the 50 to 59 age group.

“The distribution of these ages is based on scientific assessment of the benefits of vaccination. […]. What the DGS did was assess whether there would be a public health benefit from expanding the range of people who could be vaccinated if vaccines were still available,” said Manuel Pizarro.

The DGS announcement of this decision will be made this Friday, “in a few hours”, according to the Director General of Health Rita Sa Machado, who was also present at the opening of the Beato medical department.

Asked whether the expansion of flu vaccination was linked to the record of excess deaths among people aged 45 to 64 years, the Health Secretary said there was “no doubt that this was part of the rationale that led to this decision by the DHS.”

Manuel Pizarro stressed that figures on excess mortality “must be analyzed with due caution” in order to understand under what circumstances it occurred and what measures need to be taken to correct this situation.

Lacking a coat to protect himself from the cold, the minister began by saying that as a “man from the North” he was accustomed to colder temperatures, but in his speech in front of Beato’s aid station he admitted that he was not sufficiently dressed for this. Ceremony: “The DGS advice is that we should dress warmer when it’s cold, and I was actually being a little reckless.”

“To offset this, I will encourage vaccination,” the government official said, arguing that it is the best form of protection against influenza, explaining that “it does not reduce the risk of getting the flu, but it significantly reduces the risk of getting sick.” the severity of the flu,” which “makes all the difference,” especially in older people.

Manuel Pizarro stressed that the vaccination season “is not over yet,” saying that flu and Covid-19 vaccines can be obtained “in more than 1,000 health centers and more than 2,500 pharmacies.”

Regarding the flu vaccine coverage of people over 60 years of age, which last week, according to official data, was about 63%, which is lower than recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), the minister explained that the group of people aged 60 to 64 years old , who were recommended to get vaccinated this year, did not meet the expected requirement.

“This year, for the first time, we changed the population group indicated for flu vaccination: all people over 60 years of age. In other years it was over 65 years of age. Now this allows me to say that we have never vaccinated so many people. people in absolute numbers, this is even a record for flu vaccines,” the official emphasized.

“By introducing into the group of nominations [para vacinação] people aged 60 to 64, we have still not been able to achieve the same level of participation in this age group this year as we have in other years. We even have slightly higher adherence among people over 80 years of age. We have the same commitment as last year among people 70 to 79 years old,” he said, repeating the call for vaccination.