Access to the National Health System and Covid19
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This thread was created in 2020 during the Covid pandemic.
For that reason, now please ignore posts related to the pandemic.
For those UE citizens who live in Portugal as NHR (non-habitual residents) or newcomers who are not yet familiarize with the portuguese National Health System (SNS, Serviço Nacional de Saúde) or still have doubts about that, especially in these uncertain times due to the Covid19 pandemic :
1. To obtain the NHS user number, EU citizens can apply to the health centre in their residence council with one of the following documents, (a) or (b):
(a) the EU citizen registration certificate , obtained from the municipality where you reside in Portugal
https://eportugal.gov.pt/servicos/pedir … /eee/suica
(b) the portable document S1, which is intended for citizens residing and working in Portugal, as well as pensioners residing in Portugal who receive a pension from other EU country. This S1 document is issued by the Member State whose social security system covers these citizens. This document must be submitted to the social security office in the area of residence in Portugal (see *A*), which validates it and returns a copy while informing him/her of the Health Centre where it should be presented.
2. The health centres are divided into zones. You should go to the one corresponding to your residence area and be informed of the service hours, types of services, referral hospitals and diagnostic aids available. (see *B*)
The health centre issues a registration form with a user number, which must always be presented to the health centre or any other health unit you visit.
https://eportugal.gov.pt/servicos/pedir … nte-do-sns
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Due to Covid19, all public services are requiring prior registration for schedulling the service provided, which can be done by email or phone.
(*A*) Social Security.
http://www.seg-social.pt/servicos-de-atendimento
By selecting the city at "Pesquisar por" box, to search for your social security service or the "Loja do Cidadão" (Citizen's store) (if it exists in the city), you will get the address, service hours, the municipal holiday when the service is closed, email and telephone for scheduling.
(*B*) Unidades de Saúde Familiar / Centros de Saúde (Family or local health units/public health centres)
The "centro de saúde" is the basic unit of the NHS for primary health care to the population.Once you have the SNS user number, you can send an email, indicating your name, birth date, user number and phone number (if necessary to sending of paperless medical prescriptions (receitas sem papel) by SMS, which shall be presented at the pharmacy).
https://pem.spms.min-saude.pt/receita-sem-papel/
Most health centres are open every working day, between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., but some units are open for long hours and on weekends.
The services available there are as follows:- Family medical consultations- Nursing service - for various types of care treatments, such as administration of vaccines and injectable drugs, wound treatment, home care for bedridden patients, etc.- Immunization - all vaccines included in the national immunization programme, and hopefully soon with the future Covid19/SARS-COV-2 vaccine as well)- And others services that may be available there.To find out the address, phone and mobile phones, email of your health center, you can access to :
https://www.sns.gov.pt/sns/pesquisa-prestadores/
Eg. if you live in Algarve, you should choose "Distrito" = Faro, "Concelho" = City where you live. You should then choose "Cuidados de Saúde Primários".
From the list given, choose the "Unidade de Saúde Familiar" closest to you.Due to the Covid19, often health services do not answer the phone. Give preference to the email which will always be answered. You can try to suggest a day of the week (Monday, ... Friday) or an hour of presence, and they will try to facilitate your scheduling presence. Here you can also get information about the "Cuidados de Saúde Hospitalares" (Hospital health care) and the "Farmácias" in your residence area. In what concerns to pharmacies, you have the addresses and service hours (weekdays, weekends and holidays). It is also detailed there if you have online sale available on the Internet.
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Useful Info: SNS, National Health Service
Good health to All ! 
The Portuguese Ministry of Health provides a website that aims to clarify the process of vaccination against Covid-19, which can be accessed through the website of DGS (Direção Geral de Saúde) or the "Estamos On" website (Government portal with response measures to the pandemic).
This site includes a FAQ area, a simulator where the user can know when he will be called by the SNS (National Health Service) to be vaccinated, the contacts that should be used by those who want to know more about the vaccination process and also the Vaccination Plan in Portugal.
Wait until you are contacted. The vaccination process will take place throughout the year 2021.
Simulator to know when you can be vaccinated:
https://covid19.min-saude.pt/vacinas/
Vaccination Plan:
https://covid19.min-saude.pt/vacinacao/
Frequently Asked Questions about COVID-19 Vaccination (FAQ's):
https://covid19estamoson.gov.pt/vacinacao-covid19/
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2020 was a year of challenges, sacrifices, losses and transformation.
The pandemic showed to us how fragile life can be. So we must try to be happy wherever we are.
Happy New Year 2021 to all Expats
Rapid antigenic tests to detect SARS-CoV-2 can be purchased from Saturday 13 March in pharmacies and parapharmacies without a medical prescription.
https://eco.sapo.pt/2021/03/12/testes-r … farmacias/https://tvi24.iol.pt/videos/sociedade/c … db40fce314
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Vaccination Portugal, 12 Mar 2021
% population vaccinated with at least one dose of COVID-19
8%
% population fully vaccinated against COVID-19
3.3%
https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccin … untry=~PRT
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Good news: Vaccination will accelerate in April https://24.sapo.pt/atualidade/artigos/p … r-em-abril
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