Portugal ramps up vaccination as medical staff "feel like crying" over out-of-control pandemic

FILE PHOTO: Ambulances carrying patients with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are queued outside the Santa Maria Hospital, as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak continues, in Lisbon, Portugal, January 22, 2021. REUTERS/Pedro Nunes

LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal's firefighters, police, and people over 50 with pre-existing conditions will start getting COVID-19 jabs from next week, the government said on Monday, as it scrambled to contain soaring infection rates that are overwhelming hospitals.

Lawmakers and government ministers will also get vaccinated from next week, Health Minister Marta Temido said, while medical staff spoke of despair at the steep increase in cases.