ZAGREB, 13 Nov, 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Saturday repeated his appeal to all citizens to get vaccinated and called on those who refused to do so to get tested.

Speaking at a press conference, Plenković said that the number of people vaccinated so far has exceeded 2 million and that today the proportion of people who have received the first dose will most likely reach 60 per cent of the adult population and 50 per cent of the total population.

"Everyone has the right to protest, but what we are advocating is common sense, notably the view of medical professionals, doctors and scientists," the prime minister said. He added that people who do not want to get vaccinated can get tested very quickly and obtain a COVID certificate.

"We respect the people who are responsible and who have been vaccinated. And those who have not, we appeal to them to get vaccinated and to get tested," he said.

Plenković said that the Fitch Ratings agency had taken into account the vaccination rate when it upgraded Croatia's credit rating on Friday. "Ratings agencies watch what we do as a society, whether we stand in solidarity with one another, whether we are responsible, whether we understand what's going on." 

Commenting on the message from Croatian Roman Catholic bishops that citizens should not be coerced into getting vaccinated, Plenković said that the bishops should be asked whether they should have publicly called on people to get vaccinated.

He said that Pope Francis was clear in his statement when he appealed to people to get vaccinated.

"I believe that many of our bishops have been vaccinated, considering their age and the availability of the vaccines. As for freedom, it cannot be the reason not to respect the people who have been vaccinated," the prime minister said.

Asked whether he would meet with protesters against COVID certificates, he said he did not get the impression any of them wanted to talk with the government, and that peaceful protests were held to express an opinion.

"We live in a democracy. If anyone wants to talk, they can contact us and say what the problem is. I would like to see what it is about through dialogue," the prime minister said.

Peaceful protests against the introduction of mandatory COVID certificates for public-sector workers and people visiting state and public institutions, were held in several cities across the country on Friday evening. In Zagreb, protesters rallied outside the government building in St Mark's Square.

Commenting on the criticism from President Zoran Milanović regarding the transport of bishops by a Croatian Navy vessel, Plenković said he could not see the problem.

"This was about the ordainment of Bishop Vidović (on Hvar island). The Military Ordinariate had asked the defence minister in writing to arrange transport and the minister approved it. Is it a crime? It's not. Did the state collapse? It didn't," he said.

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ZAGREB, 4 Nov 2021 - After Croatia saw a record high daily number of new coronavirus cases, GLAS parliamentary deputy Anka Mrak Taritaš on Thursday called on the government to ramp up the vaccination campaign, saying it was high time for restrictions to be imposed on the unvaccinated.

"The campaign should be further intensified, but that will not suffice. Now is the right time to tell people that they cannot get to work or to cafes and restaurants and shops if they are not vaccinated."

She criticized the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and the government for being lenient and failing to take serious steps to encourage people to get vaccinated.

"By next spring we will have the same number of COVID fatalities as the deaths in the Homeland War. Our COVID-19 fatality rate is among the highest in the world," Mrak Taritaš said.

Andreja Marić of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) also called for better immunization.

"People, get vaccinated, trust your doctors and experts," she said, accusing the government and the COVID-19 crisis management team of not doing their job well.

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ZAGREB, 29 Oct 2021 - The rising interest in vaccination is encouraging as over 10,000 citizens have received the first shot in two days, the government said on Friday, adding that the number of those who have received a booster shot it also rising.

The booster shoot is recommended for everyone who was vaccinated six months ago or more as well as for senior citizens and immunocompromised persons, government spokesman Marko Milić tweeted.

Yesterday 13,292 COVID-19 shots were administered.

To date 56.92% of the entire population, including 56.21% of adults, has received the first shot.

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ZAGREB, 21 Oct 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Thursday warned of the growing number of coronavirus cases in Croatia, saying that the death toll would soon exceed 9,000 and stressing the importance of vaccination and compliance with epidemiological measures.

"We must comply with the basic protection measures - wearing a face mask, keeping a distance, airing the premises, and maintaining hand hygiene," Plenković said at the start of a cabinet meeting.

He stressed the importance and necessity of vaccination, especially for elderly people, noting that the elderly are at greater risk if they contract COVID-19. "One in four elderly persons aged 65 and over have not been vaccinated yet, and we are talking about 238,000 persons or about 25-27 percent."

Plenković warned that the COVID-19 death toll will soon exceed 9,000. "This is a high price we are paying as a nation and society. But now we have vaccines, and there is no reason for this number to be so high," the prime minister said, adding that the vaccines also effectively protect against serious forms of the disease.

He appealed to people who have still not been vaccinated to get vaccinated, citing the views of medical professionals and the government's Scientific Council as well as statistics.

74 percent of hospitalized COVID patients not vaccinated

Plenković said that 74 percent of infected people who have been hospitalized this month were not vaccinated, which is three in four patients, while 80 percent of patients who were or still are on ventilators were not vaccinated, which is four in five.

"These are very clear and convincing figures," Plenković said, noting that 93 percent of the people who died from coronavirus were above the age of 60 and 98 percent were above the age of 50.

He said that the Scientific Council, which met two days ago, stressed the importance of vaccination, especially for the elderly.

"We all agree with the view of the Croatian Public Health Institute on a third dose, that it should be administered to immunocompromised persons and to health and welfare workers because it will help in the fight against the epidemic," the prime minister said.

He said that the situation in Croatia is similar to the rest of the world. "The unvaccinated people represent a pool where the virus spreads the most and where mutations occur the most. It's a fact that vaccinated people can also transmit the virus, but that is less likely than among the unvaccinated, and in the case of infection the disease is much milder."

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ZAGREB, 23 Sept 2021 - In the last 24 hours, Croatia has conducted 10,106 coronavirus tests, and 13.6% of them, or 1,373, have turned out to be positive, and ten more COVID patients have died, raising the COVID-related death toll to 8,554, the country's COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Thursday.

There are now 8,615 active cases, and 694 of them are receiving hospital treatment, including 89 placed on ventilators.

Since the first registered case of the infection with the novel virus in Croatia on 25 February 2020, the country has conducted over 2.76 million tests which have shown that 396,470 people have caught the virus, and of them, 379,301 have recovered, including 1,132 recoveries in the last 24 hours.

To date, 3,388,015 vaccines have been administered. As many as 1,793,806 people have received at least one shot, and of them, 1,682,093 have fully been vaccinated (49.82% of the adult population).

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September 23, 2021 - The coronavirus has broken out in Zagreb schools, and more and more Croatian children are being vaccinated at the Fair, but when will the general recommendation be for those over 12 years old?

Tportal.hr reports today that the number of people suffering from covid is growing, especially among young people. ''In the first three days of this week we have almost 100 new patients in primary and 88 in secondary schools in Zagreb'', said Tatjana Petričević Vidović from the School Medicine Department of the Institute of Public Health 'Andrija Štampar', and commented for HRT on the vaccination of Croatian children.

''Yesterday there were 427 newly infected people in Zagreb. The numbers are rising, we are on the ascending arm of the fourth wave. Epidemiologists say that we are not close to the peak, this can be seen from the daily figures on the increased number of tests, and the data can also be seen in schools in Zagreb. We have an increase in infected children, with a return to school and indoor spaces there is an increase. In the first week we had 80 new cases in primary schools, 99 in secondary schools, and in the second week 229 in primary and 203 in secondary schools. In the first three days of this week, we have almost 100 in primary and 88 in secondary. It is obvious that the number is growing and what we notice is that the virus is spreading much faster within the class so we have classes that have symptoms in a day or two and tests confirm the coronavirus in 15 out of 30 students. The delta strain is spreading much faster and we are witnessing that'', said Dr. Tatjana Petričević Vidović from the Department of School Medicine of the Teaching Institute for Public Health 'Andrija Štampar' in the HRT show on Studio 4.

She called on people who have not been vaccinated to do so, ''it is absolutely a way out of this situation'', she pointed out.

''Regarding the vaccination of Croatian children, we vaccinate children over 12 years of age, in accordance with the recommendations of regulatory agencies and our CNIPH. Children are vaccinated with the vaccine from Pfizer and Moderna. So far, expert recommendations exist for the population of children suffering from chronic diseases or other conditions, for whom covid infection could significantly endanger their health. Of course, healthy children can also be vaccinated and we see that, and parents bring their children to the Fair. That is what we wanted to see, that parents and children are vaccinated together, but also grandparents who have not been vaccinated'', said Petričević Vidović.

When it comes to vaccinating Croatian children over the age of 12, she said there is no mass recommendation to vaccinate healthy children. Vaccination can be carried out individually.

'We have not yet embarked on mass vaccination because the benefits and possible side effects that have been reported are still being weighed, I must say. That is valid, the research is ongoing and I hope that some decision will be made in the foreseeable future'', said Petričević Vidović for HRT.

Commenting on the increase in the number of new patients in schools, she said that she is constantly called upon to maintain distance, but that is difficult. ''These measures must be implemented in the school. Self-isolation is still necessary when we have a newly ill child in the classroom. We try to be as sparing as possible and as few children as possible go into self-isolation. But when the infection spreads in the class and when we have two or more sick children, then self-isolation must be determined for the whole class'', explained Petričević Vidović.

For example, four classes in a school had to go into self-isolation because of one infected student, and she said that children must all be tested before going to school to eliminate the infection before the trip.

''But in school children are in contact with each other, so everyone has to self-isolate. It is not a popular method, but it is still needed given the state of the epidemic and given the fact that we do not have a high enough vaccination rate of the general population'', she said.

She also commented on postcovid in children who had no symptoms during the illness.

''The disease in children passes in most cases with a mild clinical course. Fortunately, complications of multiinflammatory syndrome are rare. Long postcovids with symptoms of weakness, long fatigue are monitored, concentration disorders are mentioned, but it takes more time and research and we hope that there will be no more pronounced consequences in children and young people'', Petričević Vidović told HRT.

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ZAGREB, 20 Sept 2021 - In the past 24 hours 264 coronavirus cases and 14 deaths have been registered in Croatia, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Monday.

There are 7,518 active cases and 695 hospitalized patients, including 85 on ventilators.

Croatia has registered 392,248 coronavirus cases to date, including 8,514 deaths and 376,216 recoveries, of which 1,018 in the past 24 hours.

A total of 20,966 persons are self-isolating.

To date, 2,730,993 persons have been tested for the virus, including 3,863 in the past 24 hours, and 43.93% of the population has been vaccinated, including 52.73% of adults, of whom 49.50% fully.

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ZAGREB, 16 Sept 2021 - In the last 24 hours, Croatia has conducted 10,743 coronavirus tests, and 12.8%, that is 1,369, have returned positive, and nine patients have died, raising the COVID-related death toll to 8,472, the national COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Thursday.

There are currently 7,643 active cases, including 628 hospitalized patients, and of them, 72 are placed on ventilators. Also, 17,051 are self-isolating.

Since the first registered case of the infection with this novel virus in Croatia on 25 February 2020,  nearly 2.7 million tests have been conducted, showing that 388,260 people have caught the virus, and of the 372,145 have recovered, including 754 recoveries in the last 24 hours.

Since the start of the vaccine rollout in the country, 43.64% of the total population, or 52.38% of the adult population have got vaccinated.

The statistics show that 49.17% of the adult population has been fully vaccinated.

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ZAGREB, 13 Sept 2021 - In the last 24 hours, Croatia has conducted 3,871 coronavirus tests, and 167 have returned positive (4.3%), the national COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Monday.

There are currently 5,532 active cases, and 592 are hospitalized patients including 59 placed on ventilators.

In the last 24 hours, seven patients infected with coronavirus have died, raising the COVID-related death toll to 8,447.

Since the first registered case of the infection with this novel virus in Croatia, 384,082 people have caught the virus, and of them, 370,103 have recovered, including 751 recoveries in the last 24 hours.

To date, 43.37% of the total population, or 52.07% of the adult population have got vaccinated.

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ZAGREB, 9 Sept 2021 - In the last 24 hours, 9,987 coronavirus tests have been performed in Croatia and of them, 941 (9.4%) have returned positive, while the COVID-19-related death toll has risen by 10 to 8,405, the national COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Thursday.

There are currently 5,335 active cases and, among them, 554 are receiving hospital treatment, including 58 patients on ventilators.

Since its first registered case of the coronavirus infection on 25 February 2020, Croatia has tested 2,628,116 people. The country has registered 380,904 positive cases and 367,164 recoveries, of which 605 in the past 24 hours.

So far, 43.13% of the total population, or 51.79% of adults, have been vaccinated. The share of the fully vaccinated adult population is 48.59%.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, including travel, border, and quarantine rules, as well as the locations of vaccination points and testing centers across the country, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and select your preferred language.