“For next week, we will reach, with the help of the Portuguese, 85 or 86% [of the vaccination rate]. And then the process in terms of first doses is complete. Then there is the process of second doses,” said Vice Admiral Henrique Gouveia e Melo, from Guarda.

Today, Gouveia e Melo visited the Guarda Vaccination Center, installed in the São Miguel Municipal Pavilion, at the invitation of the Local Health Unit's Board of Directors, and received the Municipality's Medal of Excellence and Dedication “for the exemplary service he has provided to Nation".

"We are an extraordinary people, an enlightened people, with a deep-rooted knowledge and culture and I am convinced that we are going to corner the virus in the only way there is, which is to take away all its maneuverability, to take away from it all the water for him to swim in,' as I say a lot in my marine analogies, and 'dry up' this virus. Today, I was looking at the statistics, we are at 81.6% vaccination”, he said.

Asked about future vaccination at the health centers, he added that the vaccination technical committee listed a group of people who, given their fragile characteristics in relation to their immune system, should have an additional dose.

The process is underway, he said, recalling that he made an estimate “of around 100 thousand people” in this situation.

"It is not necessary to have a 'Task Force' to vaccinate 100,000 people," he admitted, noting that the National Health Service "usually vaccinate between two to three million people in winter."

“The healthcare system has capabilities and the Portuguese must believe in the healthcare system”, he stressed.

Regarding the vaccination of young people over 12 years old, the national coordinator of the Covid-19 Vaccination Plan said that he has "high expectations".

“We have about 180,000 young people still to be vaccinated, in this age group”, he recalled.

He later said that as coordinator of the plan, he was concerned with “guaranteeing flexibility” to young people, who have an “exclusive weekend” and then an “open house” in order to facilitate the beginning of classes.