What's Up, Portugal?

Boosting like there is no tomorrow.

This post has been triggered by the following comment:

DoorlessCarp🐭 Writes DoorlessCarp’s Scientific Liter… ·8 hr ago

• BA.5 is fast becoming dominant in Portugal. The transfected have little immunity unless recently infected by BA.2.

  That's why cases & deaths is spiking...

  Epidemiological update: SARS-CoV-2 Omicron sub-lineages BA.4 and BA.5

  https://doorlesscarp953.substack.com/p/epidemiological-update-sars-cov-2?s=w

and my off-the-cuff remark:

• Andreas Oehler 2 hr ago

  Or so they say. The solution - obvious: get your fifth shot!

Then, I have decided to check the current situation with “additional shots” in Portugal, out of curiosity. The results didn’t disappoint!

2021.10.01: “In Portugal, There Is Virtually No One Left to Vaccinate“: “We believe we have reached the point of group protection and nearly herd immunity,” Admiral Gouveia e Melo said. “Things look very good.”“

Time to kick back and enjoy? Far from it! No matter how good the Admiral felt, there was no stopping at that point — they say “perfect is the enemy of good” for a reason:

• 2021.09.01: “On 1 September 2021, it recommended an additional dose of vaccine for immunosuppressed people aged over 16, with its head, Graça Freitas, saying that this was “a new vaccination opportunity” for this specific group. Weeks later, the administration of the booster dose of the vaccine began to people in the general population aged 65 and over, with the DGS giving priority to people aged 80 and over and users of nursing homes and the long-term care network.“

• 2021.10.11: “Covid booster jabs for over 65’s“

• 2021.11.19: “Wait for booster jab shortened“: “…until now it was only possible to receive the booster dose for people over 65 years old, 180 days after the previous dose, and now this period has been reduced, and may vary between 150 and 180 days. Another of the changes announced for this group of users, which also includes health professionals, the social sector and firefighters, is the inclusion of people who have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 who received a dose of the vaccine after recovering. Graça Freitas also announced that people aged 18 and over who received the Janssen Covid-19 vaccine will be able to receive a booster dose 90 days after administration of the first one.“

• 2021.12.02: “Booster dose for over 50 vaccinated with Janssen starts Sunday“ : “The booster dose will be the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, with approximately one million people eligible.“

• 2022-02-18: “Portugal: Extra Booster dose of Covid vaccine for immunosuppressed”: “The DGS recommends vaccination with booster doses in people with severe immunosuppression who received an additional dose to complete the primary vaccination scheme, with the aim of increasing the protection of this population against Covid-19,” said the DGS, which is Portugal’s national health authority, in a statement. Vaccination with the additional dose had previously been recommended for people with immunosuppression, in order to “enable an adequate level of protection identical to the initial vaccination scheme in the general population,” according to the DGS at the time. “

• May 16,2022: “Over 80s receiving second Covid booster from today“ (see how well it protects against the infections, immediately at that):

  

And now, you can track the referenced Covid-19 jab drives on Portugal’s “Covid-19” mortality chart below to see how well these “additional shots” avert the severest of the outcomes:

“Things look very good” indeed.