Rita Sá Machado has warned Parliament’s Health Committee that distrust of vaccines in some countries is helping bring back diseases such as measles. The Director-General of Health said the effects are already visible in the United States, where measles is again spreading in many states. She told lawmakers that people in Portugal can trust vaccination, because vaccines would not be offered or recommended unless they met strict safety standards. During the hearing requested by the Chega parliamentary group, she also said vaccine scepticism is now a serious issue rather than a marginal one. On Covid-19, she cited a World Health Organisation (WHO) study estimating that vaccination prevented about 1.6 million deaths across Europe. Rita Sá Machado added that the Covid-19 vaccines used in Portugal met legal and regulatory requirements and showed high levels of quality, safety and efficacy. Former Health Minister Marta Temido also told the committee that the rapid development of Covid-19 vaccines did not mean safety was sacrificed, and Infarmed’s 2023 report recorded more than 39,000 suspected adverse drug reactions by the end of 2022 from almost 28 million doses administered in Portugal.
