Adult vaccinations in Portugal: what you're entitled to, what's free and where to take your records from home
Children's vaccinations come up at every appointment here, but nobody calls adults in: turn up yourself and they'll vaccinate you, don't and nobody will remind you. Even so, the PNV national vaccination schedule hasn't forgotten adults: it includes tetanus and diphtheria at set ages, measles for those born in 1970 or later, the HPV vaccine up to the age of 27 and the autumn flu jab. All of this is free and done at your own health centre, and you don't need a prescription for vaccines on the schedule. Below, in order: what the schedule offers adults, how to get a Portuguese vaccination record and what to do with certificates from Russia and Ukraine (they don't transfer automatically), who needs the measles vaccine and how much measles there actually is in the country, who gets the flu jab free, what to do without a family doctor or a número de utente (health service number) and how much the things not on the schedule cost.
What the national schedule is and what it offers adults
Portugal's vaccination schedule is called the Programa Nacional de Vacinação, PNV for short. It has existed since 1965, it is free and, in the words of the DGS health authority itself, it is “universal and available to everyone in Portugal”, which means residence permits and citizenship have nothing to do with it.
Adults are on this schedule too; they just get talked about less. According to the separate chapter “Adult vaccination”, which DGS last revised on 29 July 2026, anyone over eighteen is entitled to:
Td: tetanus and diphtheria. At 25, 45 and 65, then every ten years. This one applies to everybody without exception.
VASPR: measles, mumps and rubella. One dose for those born in 1970 or later who haven't had measles and aren't vaccinated or don't know whether they are.
HPV9: human papillomavirus. For women aged 18 to 26 inclusive and men born in 2000-2002; the range of birth years is to be extended.
Flu jab: every autumn, for risk groups; step six covers them.
Hepatitis A and B, polio, pneumococcus, COVID-19: for risk groups based on illness, work or travel. The doctor decides, and for these groups it is free too.
The main thing to grasp from the start: getting vaccinated in Portugal is not compulsory. DGS strongly recommends keeping to the schedule, but “following it is, as a general rule, not legally mandatory”. There is no fine and nothing is refused to you for being unvaccinated.
Everything below is about adults. The children's part of the schedule, who calls you in for vaccinations and how appointments work are covered separately: Children and doctors in Portugal.
“Here basically none of the vaccines are compulsory (in Italy those 6-in-1 ones are compulsory and there's no way to opt out) so you can do them whenever you like, the schedule is just recommendations.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkberemennost_portugal21.07.2026
“In Portugal vaccination is voluntary, but a lot of doctors and nurses really push and try to talk you into it.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkberemennost_portugal21.07.2026
How to get a Portuguese vaccination record and what to do with certificates from home
The paper vaccination record here is called the boletim de vacinas: the health centre issues it, and that is where the stickers from the vaccines you get are stuck in. At the same time everything goes into the state database, and you can see your vaccinations on the SNS 24 portal and in the SNS 24 app if you have set up access.
The most important thing for a newcomer: certificates from another country don't make their way into the Portuguese system on their own. There is no data exchange between a clinic in Moscow, Kyiv or Almaty and the database here. Until you bring in the paper and someone enters it by hand, as far as the system is concerned you are not vaccinated against anything.
The procedure, which DGS describes in its questions and answers, is this: go to the health centre where you live with the vaccination certificates from the country you came from; they will check what is missing and add it. Entering them is free. It is usually the nurses who transfer them, not the doctor: in Portugal vaccinations are their job.
The rules say nothing at all about translation, and in practice it is up to the individual nurse. In the chats people describe both a certificate in Russian being turned away with a request to bring a translation, and the Portuguese names of the diseases written on top being enough. A sensible minimum is to write in Portuguese, next to each line, what the vaccine was against beforehand: tétano e difteria, sarampo, hepatite B, poliomielite. The dates are readable anyway.
If you have no paperwork at all and no way of getting it, don't worry: DGS says plainly that if your vaccination status cannot be confirmed, the vaccines are given again according to your age, and a repeat dose carries no contraindications or extra side effects.
If you lose your Portuguese boletim, a second copy is issued at the health centre where you were vaccinated: your record card is kept there.
“If you bring them your vaccination certificate with a translation (plain Google Translate is often enough, but sometimes they ask for a certified one), they just transfer the vaccines you've had into their database”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkberemennost_portugal14.01.2026
“I've got a vaccination certificate with all my childhood jabs + hepatitis B as an adult, the nurse wouldn't accept it in Russian, asked me to bring a translation next time. I don't really get what there is to translate though, since it's mostly just dates and a load of stamps.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkberemennost_portugal05.09.2025
“Yes, all vaccinations in the state system with an utente are free for the child. Flu I don't remember, I think you have to buy it yourself, because it's not compulsory on the schedule, but it's pretty easy to get a referral from the saúde - ask and they'll most likely give you one. Write the names of the diseases in Portuguese on top of the certificate, they'll transfer it into their system and do whatever's missing.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkschoolinportugal01.09.2025
Tetanus and diphtheria: what every adult needs
Of the whole adult schedule, this is the main one. The vaccine is called Td and on the record it is written as tétano e difteria: one injection against tetanus and diphtheria together, given according to the schedule at 25, 45 and 65. After that, from 65, it is every ten years. If you caught up on the course as an adult, your next dose is due in twenty years, not ten: people often get this wrong, the chats confidently say “every ten years”, and for anyone under 65 that is incorrect.
If you have never been vaccinated, don't know your history or never finished your primary course, you get three doses: 4-6 weeks between the first and second, 6-12 months between the second and third. After that, the usual boosters for life. That is why someone who turns up without any paperwork leaves not with a single jab but with a plan for the year.
A tetanus-only vaccine isn't sold in pharmacies: they are made as combinations, and that is fine. An extra antigen is safe to give, and there is no choice on the market anyway.
A practical point worth knowing in advance: three doses mean three appointments, and you may not be able to book the second one straight away; you'll be asked to get in touch nearer the time. It's inconvenient, but it doesn't spoil the course: a missed or postponed jab doesn't cancel what has already been done. DGS says so plainly in its chapter on catching up: a longer gap than recommended doesn't reduce protection, and the course is simply completed, however much time has passed.
“Same thing happened to me. I know that as an adult, after school, I didn't have any, so here they gave me three this year — if you don't have it every ten years, they do it three times. ‘Difteria e tétano’ is the vaccine against diphtheria and tetanus.”
Translated from Ukrainian; the original is at the linkukrporto23.11.2025
“Yes, that's exactly how it went for me. After one dose of tetanus I'll do the triple one and that's it. Funny thing is there are three doses and the nurse at the saúde told me to book by email, and the reply said they can't book me for the second dose (which has to be a month later), no time, but write again closer to the date 😄 So basically I'm not going to have it. And the protocols really do differ, depends who you get, can go either way. It's just that the tetanus jab is supposed to be done every 10 years. And I turned up without a vaccination certificate (or whatever it's called?). So they started giving it to me.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkberemennost_portugal10.03.2026
“Generally yes, but it depends how much this worries you. Also, if dad hasn't had a tetanus and diphtheria jab for more than 10 years (it's three vaccines together in one shot) - then it wouldn't hurt for him to have one too.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkberemennost_portugal17.06.2026
Measles: who needs the vaccine and who doesn't
The DGS rule is short and based on age.
Born in 1970 or later, haven't had measles, aren't vaccinated or don't know: you need one dose of VASPR (measles, mumps, rubella).
Born before 1970: you don't need the vaccine. Not because it's “too late”, but because according to the 2015/2016 national serological survey 99.6% of people in this age group are already immune: they had it as children, when measles was going round everywhere. The exception is if you've been in contact with someone who has it or are about to travel somewhere measles is present: then one dose.
Work in healthcare: two doses, whatever your year of birth.
DGS doesn't advise an antibody test except in special cases: your doctor decides. It's simpler to be vaccinated again, as an extra dose does no harm.
How much measles there is in the country: DGS counted nine confirmed cases between 1 January and 18 August 2026, three of them imported. That isn't an outbreak, nowhere near one; the service doesn't keep a running count of measles, and the latest epidemiological bulletins on its website date from 2024. Across Europe, however, measles has been rising for several years now, and almost nothing is more contagious than measles.
What to do after contact with someone who has it: ring SNS 24 straight away on 808 24 24 24, or your doctor. They will check your vaccination status and, depending on it, vaccinate you or give you immunoglobulin. Symptoms: fever and feeling unwell, then a runny nose, conjunctivitis and a cough, one or two days before the rash white spots on the inside of the cheek, then a rash spreading from the face downwards and a high temperature. A person is contagious from four days before the rash until four days after it.
“Measles update. My husband went to the saúde (Porto) to moan about life and a runny nose, and on top of that they whacked him with tetanus and diphtheria, and measles-rubella-mumps without checking antibodies, just because he's an emigrant and didn't bring his vaccination records. I'd been before him, they asked me about vaccinations too, but my word was enough for them that I was vaccinated and had my antibodies checked in Russia before pregnancy.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkberemennost_portugal13.02.2025
“about measles, I checked my antibodies, turned out they were gone and I got myself the measles vaccine. Because I really don't want to get ill. So if it's relevant for anyone, you can check yourself like that.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkschoolinportugal07.03.2024
Hepatitis, polio, HPV and pneumococcus: what adults are entitled to
These vaccines are on the schedule too, but not for everyone: by age or by risk. Risk here means an illness, medication, work or travel, and the doctor decides. If you fall into such a group, the vaccine is free, like everything else on the schedule.
HPV (HPV9) is the only one on this list given on age alone: women aged 18 to 26 inclusive and men born in 2000, 2001 and 2002 (now 24, 25 and 26). Younger men's birth years, from 2003 to 2008, will be added gradually. The course is two doses six months apart, ideally completed within a year. It is also recommended separately for all adults aged 18 to 26 with immunodeficiency.
Hepatitis B (VHB) and hepatitis A (VHA): for risk groups. These include people with chronic liver and kidney disease, people living with a carrier of the virus, health workers and those travelling to places where hepatitis is common.
Polio (VIP): for adults at increased risk of infection; the three-dose course can be started or completed at any age.
Pneumococcus (Pn20 and Pn23): by age and illness, above all for people without a spleen, with immunodeficiency or after a transplant.
What isn't on the schedule and you'll have to pay for: chickenpox for adults, shingles, tick-borne encephalitis and everything for long-haul travel. These are given with a prescription: you buy the vaccine at a pharmacy and take it to the nurse, or go to a private clinic.
A separate situation, and a common one for us, is an unfinished course started at home. Here it isn't restarted: under DGS rules the doses you've had count, however much time has passed, and the missing ones are added.
“And they gave me diphtheria, tetanus, measles, rubella, mumps. I didn't have any vaccination documents at all. They don't do hepatitis B for adults here (I wanted it).”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkschoolinportugal01.09.2022
“Before one year there can also be flu, though it's probably too late to get it now. It's free. After one year the paid ones are chickenpox and hepatitis A”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkpequenos_PT13.01.2026
The autumn flu jab: who gets it free and where it's given
DGS announces the flu campaign every September in a separate official guideline (norma). Last season it ran from 23 September 2025 to 30 April 2026; as of 14 September 2026 there is no new guideline yet and last year's is still in force, so the arrangements below follow it.
Free vaccination is given to: people aged 60 and over; children aged 6 to 23 months; pregnant women at any stage; people who live in care homes and residential institutions or receive care at home; prisoners and homeless people; people with chronic conditions on the list (diabetes, asthma and other lung diseases, cardiovascular and kidney disease, obesity in adults with a body mass index of 30 or more, trisomy 21, immunodeficiency, organ transplants); health workers and firefighters who work with people.
Where. Free at SNS units. People aged 60 to 84 can go to an ordinary pharmacy instead of the health centre, if it is taking part in the campaign. Everyone else buys the vaccine at a pharmacy with a prescription, and the state pays back part of the price; you can have the injection there too.
When. DGS recommends October and, if possible, before the end of the year: in recent years flu has peaked in December-February. A prescription written only for the flu jab from 1 July is valid until 31 December.
You can have the flu and COVID-19 jabs on the same day, in different arms, or on different days with any gap between them.
And one small detail that causes arguments: the DGS flu page still says “from 65” and describes 60-64 as “also recommended”. The guideline in force since 2025 makes it free from 60. Go by the guideline.
“Same here. We got a prescription for the flu vaccine at the health centre, then found a pharmacy that does it, and all fine. They entered the vaccination into the SNS database themselves. The child is 8.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkschoolinportugal17.04.2026
“My husband hadn't been there for 2 years, but they still prescribed him the flu vaccine. I take the kids for check-ups and vaccinations every year, no problems with them”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkschoolinportugal17.04.2026
If you have no family doctor, let alone a número de utente
This is the main sticking point for newcomers, and it's easier to sort out than it looks. You don't need a doctor for vaccination at all: nurses give the jabs, and you book an appointment with a nurse, a consulta de enfermagem. Vaccines on the schedule don't need a prescription; DGS says so separately.
The wording in the DGS rules is: “anyone in Portugal can update their vaccination status at any vaccination point of the National Health Service”. Not by registered address, not by residence permit: anyone, at any of them.
What to do, step by step:
1. Go to the health centre for your home address. Take a ticket for the reception desk and say you want to get vaccinated.
2. If you have no número de utente, ask for one there. How it works and what papers you need is covered in detail in a separate guide: How to register with a Centro de Saúde and see a doctor.
3. Not having a family doctor is no obstacle. A health centre always has a duty doctor for unregistered patients, the médico de recurso, and you can see the nurse for a vaccination without a doctor at all. What to do until you are assigned a doctor is covered here: Family doctors in Portugal.
4. Hand over your certificate from the other country and ask what is missing according to the schedule here.
At many health centres everything is done by email: you write to your centro de saúde saying you need vaccinations and get a date. Sometimes the reply takes weeks, but queuing in person at reception always works.
“For vaccination you don't even need a doctor, you need to book a consulta de enfermagem. And for the certificate go to any doctor, just say when booking that it's for a certificate, it's called atestado médico para prática de desporto.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkchatsetubal22.11.2025
“just go to your saúde to the nurse - she'll register you - give you an utente and call you in for jabs and check-ups like a maniac))”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkschoolinportugal27.06.2026
Pregnancy: which vaccines you get here and in which weeks
This is the one case where adults in Portugal actually are called in for vaccination, and it is worth knowing the procedure in advance so you don't end up arguing in the consulting room.
Tdpa: tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough is recommended in every pregnancy, regardless of previous vaccinations and past illnesses. Timing: from week 20 to week 36, after the anomaly scan (done at weeks 20-22), preferably before week 32. The point isn't only to protect the mother: the antibodies pass to the baby and protect it from whooping cough in the first weeks of life, before it has had any vaccinations of its own. After week 36 the vaccine is given only on a doctor's prescription, and then it protects only the mother.
Flu and COVID-19: in season, at any stage of pregnancy.
VASPR (measles, mumps, rubella) must not be given in pregnancy: it is a live vaccine. If you aren't vaccinated against rubella, it is given at least four weeks before conception or straight after the birth.
A woman of childbearing age should have had at least three doses of tetanus vaccine in her lifetime before her first pregnancy: this is exactly where an unfinished course from childhood comes to light.
Hence the inconsistency people complain about in the chats: one woman is given a tetanus-only jab at 26 weeks, another a triple one at 27. Under the rules they count the total number of tetanus doses over your lifetime and stick to the minimum intervals, so two women with different vaccination histories really do end up with different plans. Do ask how many doses they have counted for you and why.
“From week 27 they give the vaccine as one 3-in-1 dose (Tetanus, diphtheria, whooping cough), then two more doses. That's if you haven't had them before on schedule.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkberemennost_portugal19.05.2026
“They renew the diphtheria and tetanus jab every 10 years, they'll probably offer it after the birth”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkberemennost_portugal05.09.2025
Travel vaccinations: what isn't on the schedule and how much it costs
The first thing DGS itself advises before a trip isn't anything exotic but two ordinary things: an up-to-date tetanus and diphtheria jab and the measles vaccine. Both are free and both are done at your own health centre.
Everything else depends on the country: yellow fever, typhoid, rabies, Japanese and tick-borne encephalitis, hepatitis A. This is dealt with by the consulta do viajante, the travel health consultation. Your family doctor refers you to it, and there are separate services that run it themselves: in Lisbon it is the IHMT institute of tropical medicine.
The advice is to go 4-8 weeks before you leave, and not because of red tape: some courses consist of several doses and can't be fitted into a week. Then there's booking: in the chats people say the nearest slot can be two months away. If your trip is soon, the consultation is still useful, and the IHMT gives yellow fever and typhoid vaccines even without its own consultation, on another doctor's prescription and by appointment.
IHMT vaccination service prices, in force from 1 June 2026, per injection including VAT: yellow fever €46.09, typhoid €27.22, hepatitis A €24.35, hepatitis B €16.67, A and B combined €33.01, meningococcus €48.21, tick-borne encephalitis €50.42, Japanese encephalitis €122.81, rabies €64.28, dengue €101.20, chikungunya €173.26, polio €14.25, tetanus and diphtheria €11.20. The consultation itself is paid for separately.
Two corrections to what people write in the chats. There is no malaria vaccine: you protect yourself with tablets prescribed for the duration of the trip and with mosquito repellent. A dengue vaccine, on the other hand, does exist, is expensive and isn't needed by everyone going to the tropics: who it is for is discussed at the same consultation. We have a separate guide on that kind of mosquito: The tiger mosquito in Portugal.
“The encephalitis jab is complicated, by the way. You can get it through the consulta de viajante, the nearest one for us is only in a couple of months. Hard to get it done in time for a specific trip”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkpequenos_PT01.05.2026
“So the geneticist is only needed formally for the referral, or rather that's the price of the referral) reminds me of when I had my yellow fever jab, where you have to go through an infectious disease specialist for 100 euros and only at their hospital😄”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkberemennost_portugal23.06.2026
What not to do
Don't wait to be called in. Children here are called in by letter and text message; nobody calls adults. Until you go in yourself and ask, your record will stay empty.
Don't start a course again. Not when you move, and not ten years after your second dose. The DGS rule: an interrupted course only needs completing, and a longer gap than recommended doesn't reduce protection. If you are offered everything from scratch, ask them to recalculate based on the number of doses you have already had.
Don't assume “every ten years” applies to you. That rule is for the over-65s. Before that age the schedule is set at 25, 45 and 65, and for those who caught up on the course as adults the gap is twenty years.
Don't get antibody tests “just to check”. DGS doesn't advise it: the doctor decides, and without paperwork they simply vaccinate you again, which is safe and free, unlike the test.
Don't pay for what is on the schedule. Schedule vaccines are free, including the injection itself. If a bill for a vaccination arrives from the health centre, that is a reason to look into it, not to pay: people have described this in the chats, a text message about a €47.60 debt after an ordinary routine vaccination. At a private clinic the bill is legitimate, but it is for the nurse's appointment, not the vaccine.
Don't bring a stamped translation of your certificate from home until someone asks for one. Often the names of the diseases written in Portuguese are enough. A certified translation isn't asked for everywhere, and it costs a noticeable amount.
“On the schedule you only pay for the vaccination service. Schedule vaccines should be free”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkpequenos_PT07.07.2026
“Took my daughter for her vaccinations at 1 year at an ordinary centro de saúde. My daughter is a Portuguese citizen. And then I got a text saying something like I owe 47.6 euros. They gave 5 days to pay. I didn't pay, no reminders came. But I'd like to sort out the debt - is it real or fake.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkpequenos_PT30.07.2026
What to bring
- A vaccination certificate or an extract from your record from the country you came from, with the names of the diseases written in Portuguese
- Your número de utente, if you already have one; if not, it is issued at the same health centre
- Passport or residence permit and your NIF tax number
- Proof of address: a rental contract or a certificate from the junta de freguesia (parish council)
- Your Portuguese vaccination record (boletim de vacinas), if you already have one: the stickers go into it
- For the travel health consultation: the dates and countries of your trip and a list of any medication you take regularly
- The SNS 24 number, 808 24 24 24: call it after contact with someone who has measles or if in doubt
Where people most often trip up
- The schedule isn't compulsory by law in Portugal, but it is free for anyone who is here, not just for citizens
- Certificates from another country don't get transferred anywhere on their own: until you bring in the paper, you count as unvaccinated
- You need neither a prescription for a schedule vaccine nor a doctor for the jab: you book with a nurse
- Tetanus and diphtheria on the schedule are at 25, 45 and 65, not “every ten years”; every ten years starts after 65
- Someone never vaccinated gets three doses of Td, not one: 4-6 weeks apart and then 6-12 months
- An interrupted course isn't started again, however many years have passed
- For measles an adult needs one dose of VASPR, and only those born in 1970 or later; health workers need two
- Those born before 1970 don't need the measles vaccine: 99.6% of them are already immune
- DGS doesn't advise an antibody test: it's simpler to be vaccinated again, as an extra dose does no harm
- The flu jab is free from 60, although the DGS page still says “from 65”: the guideline counts, not the page
- People aged 60-84 can get their flu jab at an ordinary pharmacy, not only at the health centre
- VASPR must not be given in pregnancy; Tdpa, on the other hand, is needed in every pregnancy at weeks 20-36
- There is no malaria vaccine: you take tablets and protect yourself from mosquitoes
- Chickenpox, shingles and everything for long-haul travel aren't on the schedule and cost money
How it went for people
Two of three doses done at home: where to go for the third
A woman who came from Ukraine under temporary protection asked in the chat which doctor to see about an unfinished HPV vaccine course: she had had two doses of Gardasil 9 at home, the third was due in a month, she had no insurance, only state cover under temporary protection, and she had read online that she needed some kind of referral. Under DGS rules there is no need to start again: the doses already given count and the course is completed, and the HPV vaccine is on the schedule for women under 27 and free at that age. Go to your health centre with your certificate and book an appointment with the nurse. June 2026.
Retold in our own words from messages in open chats. The link leads to the full original message.