The Director-General of Health has warned that growing distrust of vaccines in some parts of the world is contributing to the resurgence of diseases such as measles, while assuring people in Portugal that vaccination remains safe.
“We can all clearly see the consequences of vaccine scepticism in other parts of the world. At the moment, we are already witnessing a resurgence of measles in many states across the United States,” Rita Sá Machado told members of Parliament’s Health Committee.
The head of the Directorate-General for Health (DGS), who took office in November 2023 following the pandemic, was speaking during a hearing requested by the Chega parliamentary group on contractual transparency, public risk communication, pharmacovigilance and possible State responsibility in relation to Covid-19 vaccination.
Rita Sá Machado stressed that people in Portugal can be confident that “it is safe to be vaccinated,” arguing that vaccines would neither be available nor recommended by health authorities if they did not meet strict safety standards.
She also said that vaccine scepticism in some parts of the world is no longer a minor issue, but something quite significant, contributing to the return of diseases previously considered eradicated, such as measles.
Regarding Covid-19, Rita Sá Machado cited a World Health Organisation (WHO) study estimating that coronavirus vaccination prevented approximately 1.6 million deaths across Europe.
“It is important to examine any potential adverse effects of vaccines or medicines, but it is equally important to recognise the lives that have been saved,” the Director-General of Health said.
She reiterated that all Covid-19 vaccines administered in Portugal met the necessary legal and regulatory requirements and had demonstrated high standards of quality, safety and efficacy.
“If there is one lesson to be learned from the pandemic, it is that the Portuguese people and everyone living in Portugal can have confidence in the DGS, the institutions of the Ministry of Health, and, of course, healthcare professionals.”
Also appearing before the committee at Chega’s request, former Health Minister Marta Temido said that while the development and approval process for Covid-19 vaccines was unprecedented in its speed, the accelerated timetable did not mean that safety standards had been compromised.
“Given the urgency of the situation, it was essential to develop a vaccine against Covid-19 as quickly as possible. As a result, there was a global mobilisation to make that happen,” she said.
Temido added that the process was carried out with the support of European institutions and with a constant focus on ensuring the availability of safe Covid-19 vaccines.
“Anyone acting in good faith understands that this process was guided by science, by the responsible use of public funds, and under the scrutiny of numerous respected institutions and agencies,” she said.
A report published by the National Medicines Authority (Infarmed) in 2023 on the safety of Covid-19 vaccines found that more than 39,000 suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) had been reported by the end of 2022. This represented 1.4 cases for every 1,000 doses administered.
Of the total number of ADRs recorded in the National Pharmacovigilance System, 8,518 were classified as suspected serious cases, equivalent to 0.3 cases per 1,000 vaccine doses administered.
Infarmed noted that between the start of the vaccination campaign at the end of 2020 and the 31st of December 2022, almost 28 million vaccine doses were administered in Portugal.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
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