On "the relevance of testing, through antibody tests, it is the Health authorities who have to decide," Tiago Brandão Rodrigues told journalists, on the sidelines of a ceremony in Beja. In recent days, "we have heard that there will be a pilot test" to understand the degree of immunisation in people who have been vaccinated", said the the minister, also stating that "no there is a formal connection” between antibody testing and the need or not to take the vaccine again. “I heard what was said and those who have to define these issues are the Health authorities” and teachers and the population in general have “to follow” what they say, he pointed out.

It is up to the Health authorities to “prioritise, time and also how to carry out all this vaccination”, namely “those who should be vaccinated, when they should be vaccinated, the number of times they should be vaccinated”. "Obviously, it will not be the world of Education that will define whether those who have already had the disease should have one shot, two shots or three shots" of the vaccine against Covid-19 or "when" and "how" this process takes place, he argued.

School directors and teachers' unions have agrued, in recent days, that it is necessary to carry out antibody tests on teachers and non-teachers, to analyse the degree of immunity in those vaccinated against Covid-19. Asked whether the protocols that have been in force in schools related to Covid-19 will be changed, now that the Directorate-General of Health (DGS) has also recommended universal vaccination for young people between 12 and 15 years old, Tiago Brandão Rodrigues said that, for now, the framework has not changed. “Right now, the reference that is on the table by the DGS is exactly the same that existed this last year and that served our schools. Obviously, we have to work and understand with the DGS which is the framework that serves us in each of the situations”, he said.

The Minister of Education said he believes that, "from the moment [when] the immunisation of teachers, non-teachers and even children and young people is increasing, there may be conditions to think about whether the reference should change or not." But the DGS and the Health authorities must “set this benchmark to protect our children, our young people and to make schools a safe place”, he defended. The minister participated, in Beja, in the Future Associations and Youth Summit, promoted by the National Federation of Youth Associations (FNAJ), where the Agenda for Innovation in Youth Policies was presented.