The data is in the fourth and final Vacinómetro report, an initiative of the Portuguese Society of Pneumology (SPP) and the Portuguese Association of General and Family Medicine (APMGF), which has been monitoring the flu vaccination coverage rate through questionnaires since 2009.

The study indicates that 73.5% of people aged 65 and over were vaccinated in the campaign that began at the end of September, a figure that, for the second consecutive year, leaves Portugal close to the WHO's 75% target for this age group.

According to the report, 88.5% of seniors aged 85 and over received the flu vaccine, and more than half of them – 59.2% – reported being informed by their healthcare professional that they were receiving the high-dose vaccine.

Among people with chronic diseases, the Vaccination Tracker indicates that 85.4% were also vaccinated, with particularly high coverage among those with respiratory disease (89.7%), diabetes (88.9%), and cardiovascular disease (86%).

According to the data now released, flu vaccination coverage also included 64.7% of healthcare professionals with direct patient contact, a 15 percentage-point increase compared to last season; 60.6% of pregnant women; and 39.8% of children between 6 and 24 months.

“The growth compared to the previous vaccination season is one of the main highlights of this fourth wave. Total sample coverage increased by 14.4 percentage points, from 47.4% to 61.8%,” the conclusions point out, adding that this increase was “particularly significant” among healthcare professionals and chronically ill patients.

Demographic data

Among the vaccinated population aged 65 or older, the highest percentage is found in Alentejo, with 85.4%, followed by the Centre (82.3%), North (81.3%), Algarve (80.7%), Madeira (79.5%), Lisbon metropolitan area (75.7%) and Azores (75%).

Of the total sample surveyed, the doctor’s recommendation was the main reason for vaccination (33.1%), having been relevant in risk groups such as chronically ill patients (39.1%) and pregnant women (65.7%), with family doctors being responsible for almost all of these recommendations in the group aged 60 or older.

According to the data, the vast majority of the population aged 85 or older received the vaccine at a health centre (96.4%), a location also favoured by the population aged 65 or older (65.2%), while people aged 60 to 64 received the vaccine mainly at pharmacies.

Importance for public health

For the president of the SPP, these results represent an “important milestone” for public health in Portugal, highlighting the “extraordinary coverage” of almost 90% among the population aged 85 or older.

“This level of protection translates into a lower probability of serious complications and a significant reduction in pressure on health services,” Jorge Ferreira emphasised.

For the executive, despite falling short of the WHO target of 75% vaccination coverage among people over 65 for the second consecutive year, the “consistent increase in vaccination coverage in most groups demonstrates that we are clearly on the right track.”

The Vaccination Meter survey was conducted between 18 February and 24 February. According to the latest report from the Directorate-General of Health, between 23 September 2025 and 1 March, 2,560,440 people were vaccinated against the flu, of which 1,385,748 were vaccinated in the National Health Service and 1,172,114 in pharmacies.