ZAGREB, 28 Nov, 2021 - The head of the Croatian Medical Chamber (HLK) said on Sunday that he was surprised that participants in protests against COVID certificates included doctors, confirming the HLK had launched proceedings against doctors making claims not based on science at those protests, thus misleading the public.

"Certain steps have been taken against six doctors... sanctions range from a warning and a reprimand to the revocation of the licence," Krešimir Luetić said in an interview with the Sunday issue of the Novi List daily.

Asked if such doctors should have their licences revoked, Luetić said the HLK's Ethics Board was an independent body that would make its decision.

Doctors embittered by protests against COVID-19 certificate mandate

Asked about his view of the protests against epidemiological restrictions, vaccination and testing, Luetić said that he shared his fellow doctors' resentment about the protests.

He said that after the protest held in Zagreb last weekend, he was contacted by dozens of colleagues who were embittered as the event was in direct violation of epidemiological restrictions but also because of the messages that could be heard at the rally.

95% of doctors vaccinated

Asked about the fact that among the protesters there were also doctors and that not all protesters were uneducated people, Luetić said that he was shocked by the fact that any intellectual, particularly a doctor, would make comments that were not based on science, medical profession and statistics.

He noted, however, that around 95% of doctors had been vaccinated against coronavirus, thus showing their view of the pandemic and vaccination.

Speaking of vaccination, Luetić recalled that the HLK had already taken the position that vaccination should be mandatory in the health system.

As for the mandatory vaccination of the general population, which Austria has already opted for and some other European countries are considering, Luetić said that it would be a political decision.

"As a doctor and from the point of view of the medical sector, I think such a decision would definitely make the situation in the health system easier, and reduce the number of seriously ill people and fatalities," he said.

If you compare countries like Croatia, Belgium, Austria and the Netherlands, you see that they have roughly the same number of daily infections per million inhabitants, however, compared to Croatia, those three countries have three times fewer hospitalisations and up to five times fewer fatalities, Luetić stressed.

"That is a clear indicator of how important vaccination is, and as to whether our citizens understand that, I think the answer is both yes and no," he said.

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Coronavirus has been and continues to be a real threat to world health, and with numerous Chinese workers working on constructing the long awaited Peljesac bridge in Dalmatia, fears recently arose that the virus could be present and coronavirus saw the factory supplying the bridge in China shut down.

As Morski writes on the 18th of February, 2020, despite recent worries about coronavirus and the fact that a Chinese company with Chinese workers is busy building the bridge which is an enormous strategic project for Croatia, there doesn't seem to be any cause for concern. According to those present on Peljesac bridge's site, the number of workers there is the same and thank they're all apparently healthy.

The commander of the ''Forca'' motor tanker, which supplies the Chinese ships and cranes with fuel, Miro Radic, says that the situation on the ground is normal, and works are currently going on without any downtime for now, despite the recent concerns and the suspension of the Chinese supplier factory.

''They're all workers are from China, and there's the same amount of them working there as there were before the virus appeared. What should be emphasised is that all of the Chinese workers on the bridge are healthy and that there are no traces of coronavirus in Klek, and that these people have had no contact with China since the virus appeared. Me and my crew follow safety instructions and wear protective suits, hats and gloves, though I repeat, there is no sign of the virus,'' explains Radic, in an attempt to calm the incredible hysteria among the general population caused by global media panic.

Coronavirus worries aside, Peljesac bridge should be opened on July the 31st, 2021, and it has been confirmed from Croatian Roads (Hrvatske ceste) that due to the new circumstances, the contractor has not requested an extension of the deadline.

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