Pedro Ramos, the Regional Secretary for Health, has confirmed that Portugal will receive a total of 22 million doses, 400,000 of which, will be delivered in stages to the Autonomous Region of Madeira. In his statement, the Health Secretary said that “in the case of Madeira, 200,000 people are eligible for the vaccine, therefore we need 400,000 doses, costing around four million euros.
Those included in the first round of vaccinations are health professionals, the elderly and those with health problems.
However, he stressed, just because we are starting the vaccination programme does not mean that we can relax, and therefore masks will remain mandatory until the effectiveness of the vaccine is proven, as the vaccines will be administered ‘safely and without undue haste.’
The first vaccines are due to arrive at the end of this month.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
