Portugal reaches 70% vaccination rate against COVID-19

The Portuguese Ministry of Health announced on Friday that it had reached the goal of vaccinating 70 percent of the population of Portugal against COVID-19 with at least one dose, reported Xinhua.

The vaccination rate was achieved ahead of the September deadline.

According to the ministry, about 12.1 million vaccines have been administered so far, enough to immunize more than 6.9 million people with one dose while 6.2 million people have been completely vaccinated.

With more vaccines available in Portugal, the health authorities have also pledged to speed up the vaccination program, which has seen about 80,000 vaccines administered per day so far.

As for the population aged 16 and over, the ministry estimates that around 82 percent have already started their vaccination schedule, with 75 percent now being fully vaccinated.

"This milestone was only possible thanks to the commitment and efforts of all health professionals and other entities involved in this vaccination campaign, including the armed forces, security forces and local authorities, as well as the great adhesion shown by the Portuguese," the ministry said in a statement.