Speaking at a press conference at the end of the Council of Ministers, the government official admitted that it is not possible "at this moment" to assume that there will be "the total end of restrictions" and stressed that what is on the table is the level of vaccination in that Portugal is now, with “more than 85% of the population with one dose”, and that it will soon lead to the transition to the next phase outlined in the easing of lockdown plan.

Stressing that "the pandemic still exists", the minister said that with the increase in the vaccinated population it will be possible to "lift some restrictions, change some rules, alleviate some of these restrictions".

“The mask on the street is no longer mandatory, what we will have are recommendations from the DGS on the situations in which the mask should continue. It is up to the DGS to detail these circumstances. Even before the approval of the law, these recommendations existed”, recalled Mariana Vieira da Silva.

The Minister of the Presidency also confirmed that the Government has the objective of promoting a new meeting of experts at Infarmed in the coming weeks, where the issue of an eventual third dose of vaccine should be debated (a decision that she stressed will be up to the DGS), in addition to maintenance of vaccination centres after the target of 85% of the population are fully vaccinated.

“These are decisions we have to make once we reach 85%. It is necessary that the technical debate exists so that decisions can be taken”, she summarised.

The minister stressed that the Portuguese live "with mandatory measures and recommendations from the DGS regarding some matters and that this is the framework" from "the beginning of October".

"It is up to each of us individually, knowing what is recommended, to comply with what is recommended by public health," she said.