People wait after receiving the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in Lisbon, Portugal, March 27, 2021. Portugal on Saturday started vaccinations of some 78,700 teachers and workers from pre-schools and schools of the first four years of the nine-year basic education. They are listed as one of the priority groups for the resumption of classes. (Photo by Pedro Fiuza/Xinhua)
LISBON, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Portugal on Saturday started vaccinations of some 78,700 teachers and workers from pre-schools and schools of the first four years of the nine-year basic education. They are listed as one of the priority groups for the resumption of classes.
As the country began to de-confine, the Portuguese government authorized on March 15 the reopening of these educational institutions.
Education professionals were invited by the National Health Service (SNS) to receive the first dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine at health centers and, in some cases, at the school's facilities.
Vaccinations for professionals from other educational cycles -- involving more than 280,000 teachers and school workers in total -- are scheduled to begin on the weekend of April 10 and 11.
As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in an increasing number of countries with already-authorized coronavirus vaccines.
Meanwhile, 267 candidate vaccines are still being developed globally -- 83 of them in clinical trials -- in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain, and the United States, according to information released by the World Health Organization on March 23. Enditem
