The seasonal flu and COVID-19 vaccination campaign for this fall and winter begins on Tuesday and is available at pharmacies and healthcare facilities within the Unified Health System (SUS). Flu vaccination is free for all children aged 6 to 23 months.

The medical societies, in a joint statement, intend to highlight the importance of vaccination "for the most vulnerable populations, such as the elderly and those with chronic illnesses."

The organization's aim to demystify persistent misconceptions surrounding the safety and efficacy of the vaccine.

The declaration "aims to promote increased vaccination among certain groups, such as people between 60 and 65 years of age, people with comorbidities, pregnant women, and healthcare professionals."

The associations also developed recommendations to mitigate the impact of influenza on mortality each year in Portugal.

"These recommendations focus on the efficacy and safety of available vaccines; the impact of influenza vaccination on the elderly; on patients with chronic medical conditions, particularly heart and respiratory diseases, diabetes, and immunosuppressive diseases; and on healthcare professionals; the optimal timing for vaccination and strategies to increase vaccination uptake and coverage," they emphasize in a statement.

Raising awareness and encouraging more people to get vaccinated, the medical societies point out that the population "from 60 to 65 years of age is in immunological decline and, for this reason, a vaccine with a higher antigen concentration (in this case, four times higher than the standard dose) may guarantee greater protection against influenza infection and the resulting complications of this infection."

"This age group is also the most affected by the flu, with an average hospitalization rate due to the flu (or influenza virus infection) per 100,000 population of 26.5—compared to 7.8 for people under 65—and a hospital mortality rate due to the flu of 9.5%—compared to 3.1% for people under 65—which increases to 9.9% for people with comorbidities such as cardiovascular disease or respiratory diseases," they emphasize.

According to medical societies, approximately 24.2% of additional flu cases could be avoided by changing the vaccination strategy and administering the high-dose vaccine to the population aged 60 and over, instead of the standard-dose vaccine.

The associations add that the relevance of vaccination "is easily justified by the fact that it increases average life expectancy, and that every minute, five lives are saved thanks to vaccination."

The conclusions of the Influenza Vaccination Consensus meetings are endorsed by the Portuguese Lung Foundation, Respira – Portuguese Association of People with COPD and other Chronic Respiratory Diseases and the Health in Dialogue Platform, Portuguese Society of Pulmonology, Portuguese Society of Diabetology, Portuguese Society of Cardiology, Portuguese Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology, Portuguese Society of Internal Medicine (Geriatrics Study Group) and Portuguese Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology.