The option to vaccinate children aged 10 and 11 has been available since the end of Monday, on the Online Scheduling Portal, which allows you to request a vaccination schedule for the most convenient location and date.

According to the joint communiqué from the Government, National Health Service, Shared Services of the Ministry of Health and the General Directorate of Health, the Online Scheduling Portal also started to allow “the scheduling request for the booster dose against Covid-19 of citizens aged 50 and over who have been vaccinated with a dose of Janssen vaccine”.

The decision to vaccinate the age group from five to twelve years old continues to divide medical and scientific opinions, including in Portugal.

Most countries have chosen not to vaccinate children before the age of twelve, but as the number of infections increases and especially after the Omicron variant has been detected, a number of states are extending their plans for vaccination for this age group.

In Portugal, the decision to vaccinate was communicated by the Directorate-General for Health on the 7th, after hearing the Technical Vaccination Commission and considering the logistical issues with the coordination centre in support of the Ministry of Health, namely the availability of vaccines from Pfizer, in the paediatric version.

On Monday, about 300,000 doses of paediatric vaccines against the Covid-19 disease arrived in Portugal.