ZAGREB, 26 Aug 2021 - Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović, who heads the national COVID-19 response team, said on Thursday that the team was not planning to change or tighten current epidemiological restrictions just as it had not done so far.
"After we have been communicating on a daily basis for the past 18 months about the pandemic, I think there is no one who lacks basic facts about protection against the infection," he said, expressing hope that Croatia would stay orange on the epidemiological map of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
Speaking of a decrease in interest in vaccination, Božinović said that the vaccination roll-out and the related activities were within the remit of the Croatian Public Health Institute and not the national COVID-19 response team.
"Naturally we want as many people as possible to get vaccinated because at this moment that is the only sustainable way out of the epidemic and stronger efforts will definitely be made in that regard. We expect the number of people interested in getting vaccinated to increase in the autumn but we should all be making the public aware that vaccination protects to a large extent against the more severe forms of the disease," he said.
Asked if the team was considering the introduction of tighter epidemiological restrictions, he said that each restriction had to be designed in line with people's willingness to accept scientific achievements but that there was no measure that was more efficient than vaccination.
"On the other hand, larger gatherings pose a risk... the autumn is close, and staying indoors facilitates the spreading of the infection so we have to warn people of risky behavior and gatherings that can lead to an increase in the number of infections. So far we have not been inclined to introduce very strict restrictions and we will continue to behave that way," Božinović said.
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