July the 25th, 2021 - Under what conditions exactly could Croatia afford to fully open up again? With all eyes on the enviable vaccination rate of the British population and the final, total opening up of that Northern European island nation's society on the 19th of July, questions are being asked. Croatian epidemiologist Bernard Kaic sought to answer some questions.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, epidemiologist Bernard Kaic says that the number of older and potentially clinically vulnerable people who haven't yet been vaccinated is still much too high in Croatia. In his opinion, the response to vaccination in the last few weeks has been much more solid because between 5,000 and 10,000 people are being vaccinated with their first dose on a daily basis, and between 10,000 and 15,000 are receiving their second dose.
Over recent says, the whole world has been busy closely following the events in Great Britain, where, despite the growing number of coronavirus patients, almost all epidemiological measures have been abolished since Monday, Novi list writes. Concert halls, clubs and stadiums are open with almost no restrictions, but some scientists warn that this is a risky experiment to undertake with some uncertain consequences.
The British authorities estimated that, with the relatively high vaccination rate in that country, the time had come to open up and stop living in a world in which we do nothing but think about the novel coronavirus.
Epidemiologist Bernard Kaic, head of the CNIPH's Epidemiology Service, says that the British experience in the coming weeks, if their opening up proves justified, will be able to serve as an example to other countries, but only to those with high vaccination coverage. Croatia isn't in that club yet. The United Kingdom has vaccinated almost 70 percent of the population with the first dose, and 55 percent with the second. Among those who are older and more vulnerable, the vaccination rate in the UK is as high as 85 percent.
''I don't know what will happen in Great Britain, time will tell. This depends on how protected by vaccination those who are the main candidates for hospitalisation, primarily older people, actually are. As far as I understand, they've achieved great vaccination coverage among those people there and are counting on not filling hospital beds up because the elderly are protected and the young are suffering from milder forms of the disease they can cope with at home. Whether that will be the case or not will be revealed in a few weeks,'' stated Bernard Kaic.
The main condition for the introduction of the British model in another country is a high vaccination coverage of the population, until Croatia manages to join that club, it doesn't seem like a British-style grand opening is on the cards.
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