February the 1st, 2021 - Marija Bubas from the Croatian Institute of Public Health was a recent guest of Dnevnik N1 television, during which she discussed the ongoing pandemic and the vaccination plan.
As Index writes, Marija Bubas talked about easing the current anti-epidemic measures and Croatia's vaccination process. Despite the better epidemiological situation, she is not yet in favour of easing measures. Croatia has now surpassed 5,000 deaths from coronavirus, and Marija Bubas believes that this only goes to show that the novel virus has some of the worst consequences attached to it, not just long-term health issues.
"Our measures are helping against the spread of coronavirus"
"Our rate per million inhabitants is about 1,200 cases and we're in 20th place. That rate is significant in our country. There are other countries that are worse off, there are better ones, and it's a question of other comorbidities. Over 90 percent of deaths were the result of various comorbidities they already had when they became infected and which helped to make their struggle for life difficult and end terribly as the virus ravaged them.
It's also a fact that says that we should beware of coronavirus infections, especially now, in circumstances when there is more and more talk about the spread of new strains of this virus. The measures that are still in force and have been extended until the 15th of February are helping to prevent the spread of coronavirus as well as its new strains. Our number of hospitalised people, deaths and people on respirators is dropping from week to week,'' said Marija Bubašs
When it comes to the vaccine: You should take what comes first...
She said that the situation with the vaccine wasn't what they had previously expected, but that's why the vaccination plan was changed.
"There will be enough for everyone even though the pharmaceutical industry has reduced its deliveries. The vaccination plan had to be changed to meet the two-dose vaccination, which is a guarantee of protection against infection. Let's not forget that we had an earthquake in Sisak-Moslavina County where doses had to be redirected in order to quickly vaccinate the population that ended up without anywhere to live and had to be in a place where the spread of the virus is made more possible.The spread didn't happen, the situation in that county didn't eventually become alarming, but a lot of people were vaccinated and we're satisfied with how we stand with that. It would've been better if we'd had the quantity of vaccine we'd expected,'' Marija Bubas added.
She pointed out that it was a fortunate circumstance that the AstraZeneca vaccine had been approved for use in the EU.
"We expect that more serious quantities of this vaccine will be delivered to Croatia in February. You should be vaccinated, so you should just receive the vaccine that comes first. A vaccination platform will be available for that, ie for ordering vaccination. When we see what quantities will arrive in the coming weeks, we'll make a plan. "
Bubas doesn't yet know when the platform will become available to citizens, but it is being "hurriedly worked on" and the hope is to launch it soon. She noted that new strains of the virus have not yet been discovered in Croatia, but she claims that new strains are present in the region.
"New strains exist in our neighbourhood. It hasn't been discovered in Croatia yet, but we're monitoring the situation. As these new strains spread, they show how great the mobility of the population is. Another good answer to stop the spread of new strains, prevent deaths and reduce the burden on the healthcare system is vaccination,'' she stressed. She believes that the measures shouldn't be relaxed even in mid-February and that a higher level of vaccination should be expected.
"I think we're going to have to wait for a higher level of vaccination to take place, but that's just an opinion. We have to look around, throughout Europe the measures are stricter in most countries, they're preparing for the penetration of new strains in some countries and there is no thought of relaxing anything. Although our situation is good, we must be careful with relaxations,'' stated Marija Bubas.
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