Portugal Greenlights No-Cost Flu Jabs for Babies Under Two

Foreign parents juggling crèche drop-offs and Portuguese bureaucracy just received a small autumn gift: their babies can now roll up tiny sleeves for a free influenza jab, administered alongside the annual COVID-19 booster, with no pharmacy bill attached. Health officials argue the move will spare paediatric wards the winter crush and give international families one less cost to absorb during Portugal’s noticeably pricier cold season.

What exactly is changing for under-twos?

When the seasonal campaign opens on 23 September, every child aged 6 to 23 months will qualify for a completely subsidised flu vaccine. Until now, only youngsters with chronic illnesses enjoyed that perk. The extension turns Portugal into one of a handful of EU countries offering universal infant flu coverage and, according to the Direção-Geral da Saúde (DGS), aligns national policy with evidence showing that toddlers face hospitalisation rates on par with those over 65. Parents of foreign nationality do not need special paperwork beyond the standard SNS user number their child received at birth registration or residency enrolment.

Why toddlers became the centre of attention

Paediatricians spent the past two winters flagging an uncomfortable truth: babies and elders occupy the same ventilators when influenza A peaks. Surveillance data collected by the National Health Institute showed intensive-care admissions in the 6-to-23-month bracket rising steadily, even as overall flu circulation dipped during pandemic restrictions. By eliminating payment, officials hope to lift uptake above the 70 % threshold deemed necessary to slash serious complications, a target Portugal repeatedly overshot in older age groups but never reached in early childhood.

COVID-19 boosters piggy-back on the same appointment

The government packaged the new paediatric offer inside a broader autumn-winter strategy that bundles the updated XBB-variant COVID shot with influenza vaccination. Authorities promise a single visit will suffice, sparing parents double commutes to the local centro de saúde. Pharmacies will again administer both vaccines to eligible adults, yet babies must attend SNS health centres, where fridges and staffing are calibrated for infant care.

Other groups that will pay nothing—and those who still might

The zero-cost list retains familiar names: everyone 60 and older, residents of nursing homes, and people with chronic conditions. Super-senior citizens, those 85 plus, continue to receive a high-dose flu formulation designed to spark a stronger immune response. For healthy children aged 2 to 4 years, the shot remains merely recommended, not funded. Families can purchase it privately—roughly €15 in most urban pharmacies—but paediatric societies are already lobbying for blanket coverage next year.

Navigating the system as an expatriate family

Signing up is less daunting than it sounds. Most centres issue automatic invitations via SMS once the child appears on the national vaccine registry. New arrivals without a Portuguese phone number should call or email their unidade de saúde familiar to confirm time slots. Bring the child’s SNS card, any EU or UK health certificates, and, just in case, the yellow World Health Organization booklet used by many international schools. Clinicians will log the dose into the electronic vaccine record, retrievable in English through the SNS 24 app.

The money behind the policy

Pharmacies secured a state contract worth €7.6 M to cover service fees—unchanged from last winter. That envelope pays for adult administration, not the paediatric expansion, which the Health Ministry folded into its general vaccine procurement budget. Officials declined to publish cost projections for the infant doses but hinted bulk purchasing kept the additional expense “modest” relative to the potential savings on inpatient care.

Portugal’s position in the European chessboard of flu prevention

Unlike the Nordic nations, which already vaccinate all children up to age 7, Portugal long relied on high adult coverage to protect households indirectly. The new rule nudges the country closer to Finland’s and the UK’s infant strategies, while still lagging behind Spain, where kids up to 5 are covered. Epidemiologists see the shift as an early step toward a universal paediatric schedule that could eventually stretch to primary-school pupils.

What happens next—and what to watch for

The campaign will run until 30 April 2026, a full month longer than many EU counterparts, giving procrastinating families plenty of time. Authorities will publish weekly uptake dashboards, broken down by district, so newcomers can gauge how their municipality is performing. Should enrolment falter, DGS officials say they are prepared to deploy mobile vaccination teams to day-care centres—an approach that proved effective during the COVID-19 rollout in the Algarve’s tourist belt.

One quiet change, many potential ripple effects: fewer emergency-room nights for parents, less strain on paediatric ICUs, and a bit more breathing room—figuratively and literally—for expatriate families settling into Portugal’s Atlantic winters.