According to a source from the vaccine task force, the structure that coordinates the logistics of vaccination in Portugal, by the end of next week, "it is estimated that about 950 thousand doses of the vaccine from Pfizer, 340 thousand doses of AstraZeneca, 68 thousand doses of Moderna and 88 thousand doses of Johnson & Johnson will reach the national territory", the latter of single dose.

It is thus planned that the country will receive 1,446,000 vaccines in the coming days, which represents about 25 percent of the total 5,728,470 doses delivered to Portugal since the vaccination plan started on 27 December, 2020.

"We are days away from vaccinating the majority of the population over 60 with at least one dose - at the moment, we have 90 percent of these people with at least one dose - which means that we will have protected the age group where until now there have been 96 percent of hospitalisations and deaths by Covid-19," said the same source.

According to the task force led by Vice Admiral Gouveia e Melo, having met this goal and taking into account the vaccines available, the "priority was to vaccinate, as equitably as possible between regional health administrations," the largest number of people of different age groups.

In addition to the vaccination of people between 50 and 59 that is already underway, the task force intends, in the week of 6 June, to start vaccinating the 40 to 49 age group and, in the week of 20 June, the group from 30 to 39.

"The vaccination of these three age groups will run in parallel. We speak here of age groups where the risk for people to contract Covid-19 is very similar and we will try with this measure to simplify and accelerate the vaccination process for the entire population," explained the same source.

The same source said that the latest data indicate that about 2 to 3 percent of people called by SMS to be vaccinated responded negatively to the proposed schedule, which may not mean they refuse to be vaccinated.

"Non-acceptance of the appointment does not mean a refusal to be vaccinated. This can be caused by various reasons, such as unavailability on the proposed date, and the user wants an alternative date," he said.

According to the weekly vaccination report released by the Directorate General of Health (DGS), 3,526,688 people are already vaccinated with the first dose and 1,654,55 have already been fully vaccinated, with a total of 516,911 doses administered last week.

Data from the DGS indicates that 34 percent of the Portuguese population has received the first dose and that 16 percent have already been vaccinated with the two doses of the vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.