The Order of Nurses explains that there is a lack of “essential vaccines”, that protect the population against diseases such as Tetanus, Diphtheria, and Hepatitis B, and also hexavalent, pentavalent, and tetravalent vaccines, which “add vaccination protection against various diseases.”

According to the OE, these vaccines have been delivered to health centres in small quantities, which the order considers not to be “sufficient to meet the needs” of the population.

Quoted in the statement, the president of the Order of Nurses, Luís Filipe Barreira, says that the order “is very concerned” about the lack of vaccines from the National Vaccination Plan and that “a direct intervention from the Executive Directorate of the SNS is needed so that the problem is resolved as quickly as possible.”

“Portuguese nurses have ensured that our country has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, but without vaccines, they cannot perform miracles”, the note reads.

According to the order, the lack of vaccines in Portugal could have implications for public health, by causing “a decrease in the number of individuals with timely and adequate vaccination coverage”, concludes the statement.