Portugal Drafts Roadmap to Offer Free Adult Vaccines for Life

Portugal’s capital is once again the stage for a debate that could quietly reshape how every adult in the country—and across Europe—protects their health. Behind closed doors at a riverside hotel, specialists are drawing the blueprint for a future in which a jab is no longer a childhood memory but a lifelong habit.

From paediatric focus to lifelong protection

The gathering, convened by the Adult Immunization Board and co-hosted by national public-health authorities, is trying to shift mind-sets from a child-centred programme to a "life-course" vaccination model. Portuguese delegates argue that their country already provides a proof-of-concept: during the pandemic, pharmacies, primary-care units and mobile teams delivered record coverage to older adults, showing that age need not be a barrier. Yet the discussion in Lisbon goes further, calling for a single calendar that runs from the first dose in infancy to the booster at 85, with automatic reminders, digital records and tailored invitations for high-risk groups.

What makes Portugal a vaccination laboratory

International participants keep pointing to the same numbers. In the 2024-25 flu season, Portugal reached 70.5 % uptake among people over 65, outpaced only by Denmark and Ireland. For the 85-plus age band, the figure soared past 85 %. Even now, in the early weeks of the 2025-26 campaign, 49.7 % of the oldest residents have already rolled up their sleeves—more than five times the EU median. Experts attribute the success to vaccination in pharmacies, real-time data dashboards and a tradition of trust in the Serviço Nacional de Saúde. Lisbon therefore serves as a living case study, illustrating how convenience and confidence can translate into coverage.

The new 95-95-95 ambition

Borrowing the language of HIV control, Portuguese clinicians want to see 95 % of seniors, 95 % of chronically ill adults and 95 % of frontline health workers vaccinated against key respiratory diseases by the end of the decade. Meeting that target would prevent thousands of hospital admissions each winter, according to preliminary modelling presented on the Tagus. The proposal also advocates adding shingles, high-dose flu and RSV vaccines to the publicly funded schedule, replacing today’s patchwork of out-of-pocket payments with a "zero-barrier" model that mirrors childhood immunisation entitlements.

Money, logistics and pharmacies

Cost remains the sticking point. Although the finance ministry has not sent a delegate, health-service managers warn that co-payment removal could add €60 M a year to the state budget. The counter-argument, voiced by geriatricians, is that every euro spent on prevention may save three euros in hospital care. Another Portuguese innovation—allowing community pharmacies to charge small administration fees—has drawn attention from German and Italian observers who face limited access outside office hours. Plenary sessions have therefore focused heavily on the legal framework that made pharmacy vaccination possible in Portugal and on whether similar legislation could be exported to the rest of the EU.

How the EU is trying to harmonise adult schedules

While Lisbon talks policy, Brussels is rolling out the #VaccinAction2025 campaign to persuade all 27 member states to adopt a co-ordinated adult strategy. A new Commission white paper, due in December, will cite the Portuguese model as evidence that harmonised registries and real-time coverage monitoring can work at continental scale. Yet disparity remains stark: the median COVID-19 booster uptake in the EU among over-60s stood at 8.7 % last season, compared with Portugal’s high-30s in the same age range. Delegates agree that a European funding mechanism, possibly under the forthcoming European Health Data Space, is required to spread the Portuguese approach beyond the Iberian Peninsula.

What happens next

By the time the meeting closes, the organisers expect to deliver a concise Lisbon Roadmap to the health minister. Early drafts seen by this newspaper include commitments to pilot an electronic recall system, expand pharmacist training and create regional "vaccine equity maps" that will steer pop-up clinics to neighbourhoods with low uptake. The document also urges universities to embed adult-immunisation modules in medical and nursing curricula, arguing that today’s students will soon be the clinicians asked to convince reluctant forty-somethings. If the cabinet signs off—and the finance ministry finds the money—Portugal could become the first EU country to guarantee free, convenient vaccination at every stage of life. For citizens, the most visible change might be a text message reminding them that protection against shingles or whooping cough is waiting at the local pharmacy, no paperwork required.