According to Lusa, this batch of vaccines "was already in transit" when Janssen announced that, on its initiative, it would delay the distribution of the drug in Europe due to the preventive suspension of its administration in the United States.

Before this suspension of deliveries, the Portuguese authorities expected to receive, by the end of this month, a total of 86,400 doses of this single-shot vaccine, out of a total of around 1.25 million doses destined for Portugal by the end of the second quarter.

On Tuesday, health officials in the United States recommended "a pause" in administering the Janssen vaccine to allow investigating reports of blood clots potentially associated with taking the drug.

For the new boost in phase 2 of vaccination, Portugal expects to receive in this second quarter close to nine million vaccines, distributed by 4,137,503 doses of Pfizer, 794,968 doses of Moderna, 1,600,000 doses of AstraZeneca, 1,248,828 doses of Janssen , 733,333 doses of CureVac and 349,662 doses of Novavax.

Currently, four vaccines are approved in the EU: Pfizer / BioNTech, Moderna, Vaxzevria (new name for AstraZeneca vaccine) and Janssen.