“If the forecasts come true, in what vaccines are available, then during the summer, more towards the beginning than towards the end, we will reach 70 percent adult population with a vaccine”, Diogo Serras Lopes told journalists.

The governor presided today for the inauguration of the vaccination centre in Portimão, one of the four municipalities in the country with the highest incidence rate of covid-19 per 100 thousand inhabitants when the third phase of easing of lockdown began, on April 19, which forced the municipality to go back to the first phase.

According to Diogo Serras Lopes, the Government's goal is to achieve, during the summer, the goal of herd immunity (70% of the population), although the Government “does not like to give very specific goals, given that there have already been surprises with bad news about the delivery of vaccines”.

The minister revealed that the Government will reinforce vaccination in the municipalities that had to go back to the first phase of lockdown due to the number of registered cases, “so that the pandemic is controlled more quickly”.

“One of the things that has been done is that the municipalities that had to retreat in the phase of deflation are privileged in terms of vaccination and may have a higher percentage of vaccines allocated. There will be a logic, not only of age groups, but also where there are more cases, and Portimão is one of those cases”, he said.

The Secretary of State for Health refused to delay the vaccination process for the population of the Algarve, refuting the accusations of mayors who protested the fact that the Algarve is, allegedly, one of the regions with the least vaccinated population.

One of the most striking accusations came from the Mayor of Portimão, Isilda Gomes (PS), who a week ago said that the Government was not assuming its responsibility in the vaccination process in the Algarve.

“There is no delay in vaccination in the Algarve, because the rate of vaccination depends on the number of vaccines that arrive. The Algarve is a vital area for the country in terms of the economy”, claimed the Secretary of State for Health.