ZAGREB, 27 Nov, 2021 - The deputy director of the Croatian Public Health Institute (HZJZ), Ivana Pavić Šimetin, said on Friday it could be assumed that the new coronavirus variant, called Omicron, had still not arrived in Croatia, confirming that the COVID-19 vaccine for children would arrive on 20 December.
Croatian scientists, too, are taking samples to see if the new coronavirus variant is present, and their sequencing takes about ten days, she said in an interview with Nova TV.
She noted that one could assume that the new variant had still not reached Croatia.
Pavić Šimetin explained that mutations can always occur if a virus is very much present in the population, if a large number of people are infected or are susceptible to infection.
In order to prevent mutations, it is important for as many people as possible to get vaccinated, which reduces virus circulation as well as the possibility of new variants emerging, she said.
The HZJZ official also said that on 20 December Croatia would obtain the Pfizer vaccine for children from age 5-11. Its distribution will take a few days, after which the vaccination of children will begin, Pavić Šimetin said.
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