“At this moment, almost 5.7 million vaccines have been administered, having allowed us to inoculate, with at least one dose almost 3.8 million people, of which more than two million already have the complete vaccination”, said the Ministry of Health.

In a statement, the Ministry added that, with regard to the age groups at greatest risk associated with covid-19, in mainland Portugal, 77 percent of those over 50 have already received at least one dose of vaccine and 39 percent have the complete vaccine.

"Confirming the schedule for receiving vaccines, until the end of June, Portugal should receive about 4.5 million vaccines", the statement also refers.

“At a time when almost 40 percent of the Portuguese population already has at least some level of protection and 20 percent is already vaccinated, this is good news for everyone, since every person who is vaccinated is not just protecting himself, but also to others”, stressed the Secretary of State for Health, Diogo Serras Lopes.

The coordinator of the `task force' that coordinates the vaccination logistics said that the pace of inoculations "depends only on the vaccines that arrive in Portugal", with the country currently having the capacity to vaccinate 100,000 people a day.

If necessary and with more hours of daily work, the country may be able to vaccinate 120,000 to 140,000 people a day, said Vice Admiral Henrique Gouveia e Melo.

"We managed to vaccinate 100,000 Portuguese with six hours of work a day in these vaccination centres. If we increase it to 10 hours a day, we will increase the pace".