Getting Vaccinated in Portugal in 2026 — A Practical Guide to the Programa Nacional de Vacinação, the Free SNS Vaccines, the Boletim de Vacinas, Catch-Up Shots for New Residents and the Annual Flu and COVID Campaigns

One of the quieter advantages of moving to Portugal is its vaccination system. The Programa Nacional de Vacinação (PNV — National Vaccination Programme), run by the Direção-Geral da Saúde (DGS — Directorate-General of Health) and delivered through the Serviço Nacional de Saúde (SNS — National Health Service), is free, universal and consistently ranks among the most comprehensive in the world, with coverage rates above 95%. This guide explains how it works and, crucially, how foreign residents and their children slot into it.

What the PNV covers — and what it costs

The PNV is a single national schedule (the esquema vacinal) that runs from birth through old age. The vaccines on it are free of charge at SNS health centres, regardless of nationality, for everyone resident in Portugal. Childhood and adolescent vaccines on the programme include those against hepatitis B, diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis, Haemophilus influenzae type b, polio, pneumococcal and meningococcal disease, measles-mumps-rubella (known locally as the VASPR), and — for both girls and boys — the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. The schedule is updated periodically by DGS norm, so the definitive, current list is always the one published on the DGS and SNS websites.

Not everything is on the PNV. Some vaccines — certain travel vaccines, or shots recommended for specific situations but outside the national schedule — are bought at a pharmacy with a prescription and paid for out of pocket. The dividing line is simple: if it is on the PNV, it is free; if it is not, you generally pay.

The boletim de vacinas: paper and digital

Your vaccination history lives in the boletim de vacinas (vaccination record). Historically this was a paper booklet stamped at each visit, and you should keep any paper record you already hold. Today there is also a digital boletim: once you are registered with the SNS, your PNV vaccinations are recorded electronically and visible in your reserved area on the SNS 24 portal and app. That digital record is what you will use to prove your status — for a new job, a university enrolment or international travel.

If you are a new resident: registering and catching up

The first step is not the needle — it is registration. To access free PNV vaccines you need a número de utente (SNS user number) and, ideally, an assigned health centre. Our guide to registering with the SNS walks through how to get one as a foreign resident.

Once registered, bring whatever vaccination records you hold from your home country to your centro de saúde (health centre). A nurse will compare your history against the Portuguese schedule and draw up a plano de recuperação (catch-up plan) — the PNV is designed to integrate people arriving mid-life, not just newborns, so adults and older children can be brought up to date over a series of appointments. If your records are in another language, it helps to have key entries translated, though nurses are used to reading international cards.

A note for families: while Portugal strongly recommends and tracks childhood vaccination, school enrolment is not legally conditional on it. Even so, schools and crèches routinely ask to see an up-to-date boletim, so getting children onto the schedule early avoids friction. If you are expecting, our guide to having a baby in Portugal covers how a newborn enters the system from day one.

Adults: don't forget the boosters

Vaccination is not just for children. The PNV includes tetanus-diphtheria boosters for adults, with reinforcement doses scheduled across adulthood (commonly at 25, 45 and 65 years, and every ten years thereafter). Many adults let these lapse; a quick check of your boletim against the schedule at your next health-centre visit is worth doing, especially if you garden, keep animals or are accident-prone.

The seasonal campaigns: flu and COVID-19

Separate from the core PNV schedule are the annual autumn/winter campaigns against seasonal influenza (gripe) and COVID-19. These are free for priority groups — typically people aged 65 and over, residents of care homes, pregnant women, health workers and those with certain chronic conditions — and the two shots are often co-administered in the same visit. A convenient feature of the Portuguese system is that these seasonal vaccines are widely available not only at health centres but also at pharmacies, which makes them easy to get without a doctor's appointment. Outside the eligible groups, you can usually still get vaccinated at a pharmacy for a fee.

Travel vaccines and the centros de vacinação internacional

If you are travelling beyond Europe, some destinations require or recommend vaccines that sit outside the PNV — yellow fever being the classic example, which can only be given at a designated centro de vacinação internacional (international vaccination centre) that issues the official certificate. Plan these well ahead of travel, as some require multiple doses or a waiting period before they take effect.

How to actually get a shot

• Register first: get your número de utente and, where possible, an assigned health centre.
• Go to your centro de saúde: PNV vaccines are administered by nurses there, by appointment or, for some, on a walk-in basis.
• Use SNS 24 for seasonal shots: the SNS 24 portal/app and the line on 808 24 24 24 help with flu and COVID booking and information.
• Pharmacies are a shortcut: for flu and COVID, and some paid vaccines, a participating pharmacy can vaccinate you without a GP visit.
• Keep your record: hold on to any paper boletim and check your digital record on SNS 24 after each shot.

What This Means for Expats

• It is genuinely free and open to you: once you have a número de utente, PNV vaccines cost nothing, whatever your nationality — one of the clearest day-one benefits of the SNS.
• Bring your records and ask for a catch-up plan: the system is built to integrate arrivals at any age, so don't assume you have to start over or pay privately.
• Pair it with your wider healthcare set-up: a family doctor makes the schedule easier to manage — see our notes on the médico de família coverage map — and many expats hold private health insurance alongside the SNS for faster access to non-PNV care.
• Always confirm the current schedule: the PNV is revised by DGS norm, so check the live schedule on the DGS or SNS site — or simply ask the nurse at your health centre — rather than relying on an older version.

This guide is general information, not medical advice. For your personal vaccination plan, consult your health centre or doctor and the current DGS guidance.