"Between January and 8 August, 2021, 16,671 cases of infection were identified in 5,467,487 people with a complete vaccination against Covid-19", which means that "only 0.3 percent of the people vaccinated contracted the SARS-CoV-2 virus”, indicates the DGS data.

According to the department of Graça Freitas, among the cases of infection, there were 115 hospitalised people with a primary diagnosis by Covid-19, the majority over 80 years old, and 50 with a secondary diagnosis. “In the same period, 168 deaths were registered in people with a complete vaccination schedule. Of these, 81 percent (134) were over 80 years old”, says the DGS, stressing that, “regardless of further studies, the protection offered by the vaccine seems to reduce three times the risk of death in the older population”.

The same data also mentions that the “small proportion of unvaccinated people” at older ages is responsible for 40 percent of deaths, which “reinforces the protection afforded by vaccines against serious illness and death”. This monitoring is carried out by the DGS, the National Medicines Authority (Infarmed), the Doctor Ricardo Jorge National Health Institute (INSA), the Central Administration of the Health System and the 'task force' which coordinates vaccination against Covid-19 .

According to data from the Ministry of Health, until Saturday, about 13.5 million vaccines were administered in Portugal, almost 7.9 million referring to first doses and about 5.6 million second doses. In Portugal, since March 2020, 17,645 people have died and 1,020,546 confirmed cases of infection have been recorded, according to data from the Directorate-General for Health.