Portugal's health system was in danger of collapsing. Lisbon's capital city hospital was overcrowded and authorities asked people to take care of themselves at home. Nearly 2,000 people died from the virus in the week that ended January.
The country's vaccine program was in a mess, so Vice Adm. Henrique Gouveia e Melo (a former commander of submarine squadrons) was appointed to fix the ship.
Portugal ranks eighth in the world for vaccinations with 86% of its 10.3 million population fully vaccinated eight months later. Gouveia e Melo stated that 98% of all eligible vaccine recipients have been fully vaccinated. This means that anyone older than 12 years old has been vaccinated.
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He said that we believe that we have reached the point where group protection is possible and almost herd immunity. It looks very promising.
Portugal lifted nearly all coronavirus restrictions on Friday. A sharp decline in coronavirus cases has occurred to approximately 650 per day. There have been very few deaths.
Many Western countries that have access to sufficient vaccines have seen their inoculation rates decline, leaving more than 20% of their population unprotected. Other governments are now looking at Portugal to gain insight and will be closely watching to see what happens when almost every person eligible is protected.
False dawns during the coronavirus pandemic were as common as new nightmare wave after wave of infection. Portugal may still suffer a setback as global spread of the delta variant continues.
Israel and other countries have shown alarming signs that vaccine protection can fade over time. A worldwide debate is ongoing about who should get booster shots and when.
Gouveia e Melo stated that Portugal could soon offer boosters for older people and those deemed clinically fragile. He was optimistic they would all be available by December.
However, bars and nightclubs are buzzing with life, infections decrease, and deaths plummet. The country's vaccination drive has been a success, despite facing many of the same obstacles that have caused other countries to fail.
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The social media accounts of Portuguese have been flooded with misinformation about vaccines. A minority left-wing government runs the country, which is a reflection its political divisions. Public opinion polls show that there was widespread doubt about vaccines at the time they arrived.
It was Gouveia e Melo who turned it around. He has a background in military logistics and was appointed to head the national vaccination taskforce in February.
The admiral, who stands 6 feet 3 inches tall, made it a point not to wear his combat uniform during his numerous public and television appearances. He was trying to essentially draft the nation to one pandemic-fighting force.
Gouveia e Melo stated that the first thing to do is make this thing a battle. He was recalling his approach to the job in an interview. I speak not only war language, but also military language.
Although many politicians have used similar martial rhetoric around the globe, he stated that it was crucial to his success that he was seen as detached from politics.
He quickly assembled a group of about three dozen people, which included elite military personnel, including doctors, mathematicians and analysts, as well as strategic experts from Portugal's navy, air force, and army.
When asked what other countries could do to boost their vaccination efforts, he was quick to give his best advice.
He said that they need to find people who don't want to be politicians.
Portugal had a strong national vaccination program before the pandemic. This was a result of the country's terrible experience with polio. It was still affecting Portugal in 1960 when Gouveia e Melo was birth. He remembers the time when the daughter of his friend became ill and the pain that followed.
Manuela Ivone da Cunha is a Portuguese anthropologist, who studied anti-vaxxers and vaccine doubters. She said they are less vocal in Portugal than in other countries.
Leonor Beleza is a former Portuguese minister of health and president of the Champalimaud foundation. He said that Portugal's rollout was clearly influenced by the discipline that resulted from the appointment of a military officer.
She said that he created a communication policy to explain what was happening, which gave him credibility and trust.
To build trust in the system, the task force used troops to create a safe and efficient way to get people through the inoculation centres. As soldiers received shots, people could see that the vaccines were safe.
The task force also made it a point to show doctors and nurses how they were getting their shots. This was to reinforce the message about vaccine safety.
Gouveia e Melo stated that consistency was crucial in vaccine messaging, despite the fact that other countries may have included doctors, nurses and police officers as part of their vaccination campaigns.
However, resistance was growing as the campaign reached younger age groups and less than half the population had been vaccinated.
The admiral stated that a submarine is a slower ship trying to catch faster ships.
He said that you must position yourself and be intelligent about how to do this. Then, seize the chance when it comes.
In July, Gouveia e Melo seized such an opportunity.
Protesters blocked the entry to Lisbon's vaccination center, so he donned a combat uniform and went without security detail.
He said that I had been through such crazy people. They began to call me murderer, killer.
The admiral remained calm as the cameras turned on the television.
Gouveia e Melo recalled that I said that the virus is the murderer. He said that the true killer would be those who live as if it were the 13th century, without any concept of reality.
He said that I tried to communicate honestly and truthfully about all my doubts and problems.
However, not everyone liked his approach.
Laura Sanches, a psychologist and clinical psychologist, stated that we don't really have a culture for questioning authorities. She has criticised Portugal's mass vaccination program as being too militaristic, and called for its exclusion of younger people.
She said that the fear of him always presenting himself in camouflage Army suits, as if he were fighting a war, and the language used by politicians has contributed to a fear that makes us more likely to follow orders and not question.
Still, steady progress was made in the public messaging campaign that included an aggressive media and television blitz.
Gouveia e Melo stated that at the beginning we had around 40% of people who were unsure. He said that only 2.2% of people want the vaccine now, according to polls.
The admiral stated that he believed the country was on the right track as he retired from the task force this past week. He was a submariner and cautioned that it would be important to keep the war won.
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