ZAGREB, 22 January, 2021 - Croatian Public Health Institute (HZJZ) director Krunoslav Capak said on Friday that he was not satisfied with the pace of COVID-19 vaccine delivery and that the vaccination plan would have to be changed because less than planned supplies were being delivered.

"We are not satisfied with the delivery, it is far below what we agreed. What makes the situation more difficult is that at the beginning we were given larger quantities of the vaccine and in the meantime they have decreased," Capak said at a news conference of the national coronavirus crisis management team.

"We will manage to vaccinate everyone who has been given the first dose of the vaccine but new vaccinations will have to be suspended as we do not have new vaccine supplies to begin administering the Pfizer vaccine," Capak said.

He added that Pfizer had reduced its deliveries for the next month by 30%.

Moderna, too, has changed the amount of the vaccine to be delivered, the delivery is a week late and it was promised that 11,000 doses would be delivered after February 1, he said.

"We must change the vaccination schedule because at the moment we do not have enough of the Pfizer vaccine to increase the number of people to be vaccinated but are keeping it for the second round of vaccination," he said.

The AstraZeneca vaccine is expected to be registered on 29 January, its fast distribution has been promised and additional quantities, promised after the 29 December earthquake, are expected from the EU.

Capak says that the rate of inoculation of the population depends on vaccine deliveries but that with greater quantities of the AstraZeneca vaccine and all the other vaccines, it is possible to achieve a high rate of inoculation of the general population by summer.

He said that the epidemiological situation in the country had improved but that there was a danger of new virus strains and that one should also take into account the situation in the earthquake-hit Sisak-Moslavina County when considering possible relaxation of restrictions.

He said that compared to the previous week, there was a 21% drop in the number of new infections. The incidence is highest in Sisak-Moslavina County, which has a rate of 428 infections per 100,000 people, and it is lowest in Istria, with 114.5 new infections per 100,000 people.

The share of new infections in the tests done is 12.3%, which puts Croatia in 13th place in the EU. So far 64,951 people have been vaccinated, and in Sisak-Moslavina County 5,863 have been vaccinated, said Capak.

Markotić: New virus mutations put us where we were a year ago

The head of Zagreb's Dr Fran Mihaljević hospital for infectious diseases, Alemka Markotić, said that the third variant of the virus originated in Brazil and that it differed from the strains in Great Britain and South Africa.

It seems this virus could partly bypass the response of antibodies in persons who have developed immunity either because they got infected or were vaccinated, and that can also affect serological testing, she warned.

The entire EU is agreed that virus genome sequencing should be stepped up, she said, warning that coronavirus was prone to mutation and sought new ways to spread.

As for possible relaxation of anti-epidemic measures, she called for caution, citing the winter season, which facilitated the spread of the virus.

Even though vaccines seem to be effective against the strain from Great Britain, one should follow new mutations and adapt diagnostic tests to the new variants, she said.

The European Commission believes that the new variants of the virus put us back where we were a year ago when it appeared. Everyone hopes that the existing vaccines and tests will be appropriate for new variants but we have to be extremely cautious to prevent them from spreading, Markotić said.

Božinović: Measures to be defined at meeting on Sunday 

The head of the national coronavirus crisis management team, Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović, declined to comment on the possible relaxation of epidemiological restrictions, saying that members of the coronavirus crisis management team and government ministers would meet on Sunday to discuss the topic.

He stressed that there was no draft for the relaxation of restrictions in the hospitality sector, an issue raised in recent days by the national hospitality sector association.

Božinović confirmed that inspections had been stepped up in ski resorts and spas and that so far 99 fines had been collected for failure to wear a face mask and 853 warnings had been issued.

He also said that the EU was ready to provide financial assistance for virus genome sequencing in the member-states.

"The European Commission wants the member-countries to sequence at least five percent of positive COVID-19 tests. We must step up our efforts to prevent potential damage from new strains," said Božinović.

Earlier in the day, the team said that in the last 24 hours, 643 new coronavirus infections had been confirmed and 32 people had died of the consequences of the coronavirus infection.

ZAGREB, 22 January, 2021 - In the last 24 hours, 643 new coronavirus infections have been confirmed in Croatia and 32 people have died of the consequences of the disease, the national coronavirus crisis management team said on Friday morning.

Currently there are 3,321 active cases and 1,518 people are receiving hospital treatment, including 145 who are on ventilators.

Since the outbreak of the infection in late February, 227,969 people have been infected with the novel virus, of whom 4,770 have died.

A total of 219,878 people have recovered, including 796 in the last 24 hours.

Currently, 15,878 persons are self-isolating.

To date 1,144,819 people have been tested, including 4,863 in the last 24 hours.

January 22, 2021 - Croatia will suspend new Pfizer vaccinations for the time being as there are not enough doses currently available. 

T.portal reports that the director of the Institute of Public Health, Krunoslav Capak, expressed dissatisfaction with the dynamics of vaccine delivery to Croatia during a press conference on Friday. Capak noted that it is not operating according to how it was negotiated and signed, and they are now receiving reduced quantities. 

"Moderna informed us yesterday that it would be a week late with delivery and that it would reduce our doses," Capak said, adding that the vaccination plan must now be restructured.

"We don’t have the Pfizer vaccine for new vaccinations, but we will now have to keep what we have for revaccination," Capak said, adding that 11,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine should arrive in early February.

He said that the quantities of vaccines coming are 'far below what we negotiated, and it is made even more difficult for us by the fact that they were initially given larger quantities, and now they are reduced.'

"We will certainly be able to vaccinate for the second dose, but we will have to suspend new vaccinations," Capak said. "Through individual contacts with European Commission officials and producers, we seek our rights, but so far, this has remained only an attempt," he added.

"We are now in a situation where we have to restructure our vaccination plan; now we are storing the Pfizer vaccine exclusively for the second dose and waiting until mid-February to get some larger quantities. Moderna promised us that they would deliver what they promised the week after the first one, and we can only hope that'll be the case," said Capak.

The AstraZeneca vaccine is likely to be registered on January 29, and distribution will follow soon after. The European Union is currently working on the distribution by member states.

Capak also spoke about when he expects the general population to be largely vaccinated.

"It all depends on the delivery of the vaccine. We are ready for much faster vaccination, all county public health institutes, health centers, and family doctors are ready for it, but we do not have vaccines. If AstraZeneca delivers larger quantities after registration, we could vaccinate much faster. I think that together with all the other doses, it was promised that we would have the general population largely vaccinated by the summer," said Capak on Jutarnji List.

Illustration by Little Shiva

To read more about COVID-19 in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

January the 22nd, 2021 - Employment has never carried any positive connotations with it when it comes to Croatia, sadly. Ever since the coronavirus pandemic hit the country, the number of unemployed Croatian residents has only increased.

As Novac/Marina Klepo, the coronavirus pandemic has caused profound and probably permanent changes to the labour market, the collapse of certain sectors, the rise of new ones and increasingly widespread work from home trends. Going back to our old ways, many experts believe, is just a misconception because the pandemic has fundamentally changed companies and workers in almost all countries. The International Labour Organisation warned recently that the huge job losses "creates a fiscal gap that could further deepen inequality between richer and poorer countries." When state aid is excluded, he warns, labour income fell by 10.7 percent in the first three quarters of last year compared to the same period back in 2019. It remains to be seen what will happen once state aid measures expire. What is Croatia doing in this new world of work, and just how many unemployed Croatian residents have been counted?

Construction and communication

Ten months after the beginning of the crisis, says Iva Tomic, chief economist of the Croatian Employers' Association, we can conclude that not much has changed yet, despite announcements of a complete change in the functioning and appearance of the labour market as we know it.

The total number of insured persons, those who pay pension contributions, according to HZMO, at the end of December amounted to 1,536,300 persons, which is only 0.6 percent (8892 persons) less than in December 2019. The average number of insured persons during the year, on the other hand, was 1.2 percent or 17,940 persons less than the year before. There was a significant increase in the construction and information and communication sectors, while, as expected, the number of insured persons decreased the most in the accommodation, hospitality and catering sector.

"This situation on the Croatian labour market is largely a consequence of the introduction of support for job preservation, because the co-financing of part or all of the salaries by the state certainly enabled those companies that found themselves in a bad situation due to the coronavirus crisis to keep their workers," Tomic said.

In the first months of the pandemic-induced crisis of 2020, more than one third of all Croatian employees used government aid, and a certain percentage still depends on this aid, in November there were 120 thousand such people.

However, the number of unemployed Croatian residents is increasing, and on January the 15th, 163,807 people were registered at the Croatian Employment Service, 3,962 more than were registered in December. Back at the end of 2020, 28,000 people were out of work, or 21 percent more than a year earlier. Although we don't yet know the structure of the increase in the number of unemployed Croatian residents in the first two weeks of January, Tomic says that it is very possible that certain companies concluded earlier this year that they couldn't manage to keep all of their workers or even some of them, and as such simply decided to shut down.

Dismissals

''It's possible that certain companies, despite the state aid, just won't be able to maintain business operations, which means certain layoffs in 2021. So far, there are no indications of a significant closure of companies or a larger dismissal of workers, although at the beginning of this year, the number of unemployed Croatian residents began to grow significantly,'' explains Tomic.

However, the concrete consequences of the coronavirus crisis, he adds, could be realised only after the expiration of the current state aid measures, which, in addition to aid for job preservation, includes the possibility of covering fixed costs, but also delays and write-offs of certain state benefits and moratoriums on loans. According to the chief economist of HUP, this could primarily be "suffered'' by companies in the service industries, which are most affected by the pandemic, and production isn't exempt from the impact of the crisis either, given that it depends not only on domestic but also on foreign demand.

On the other hand, the coronavirus crisis has accelerated the process of the digitalisation of business, and the demand for workers in the information and communication sector is expected to continue, as it likely will in regard to construction workers, given that part of infrastructure investments are "pending" due to the recent earthquakes in Sisak-Moslavina, as well as the one which hit Zagreb in March 2020.

As a slightly better tourist season is expected this year than what was experienced last year, the growth of demand for workers in that sector is also somewhat more likely.

An adequate workforce

What could prove to be a problem is labour shortages in those sectors where there will be a need for new employment. In a survey conducted by HUP among its members at the end of last year, almost a fifth (19 percent) of respondents believe that the biggest challenge in doing business in 2021 will be the lack of adequate labour in the Croatian labour market. The list of deficit occupations adopted by the CES Board last week also suggests that there is a shortage of workers in the domestic labour market in the sectors that currently employ the most people - construction and ICT.

As the coronavirus crisis has significantly affected changes in business organisation on the whole, one of the lasting consequences, it seems, will be increased teleworking. When asked where you work during the coronavirus crisis, according to a Eurofund survey in June and July, almost 31.5 percent of Croats answered that they work from home. Before the crisis, only 1.4 percent of employees worked from home, while the EU average stood at 5.2 percent.

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ZAGREB, 21 January 2021 - The epidemiological situation in Croatia is encouraging and if the downward trend continues, the government will consult with the national coronavirus response team, epidemiologists and its team of economists over the weekend to see what can be done after 1 February, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Thursday.

In the last seven days Croatia has recorded 1,429 new infections, or an average of 604 daily. "These are the numbers we had in mid-October and they are six times lower than they were six weeks ago," the prime minister said at a cabinet meeting.

The 14-day incidence rate has decreased to 258 per 100,000 people, which is half the number recorded three weeks ago.

Plenković said that Croatia ranked fifth in the EU in terms of the weekly average of cases per million people, behind Greece, Finland, Bulgaria and Belgium.

He recommended caution, given the vicious nature of the virus and a new strain that has emerged.

"If the present trend continues, we will have consultations over the weekend with the national coronavirus response team, epidemiologists and the government's team of economists to see what we can do as of 1 February, given that the existing regime is in place until 31 January," the prime minister said.

He announced that the European Council was holding a video conference this evening, with the vaccination process as the main topic.

"It is important that we have coordinated activities of all EU member states and that we try to find solutions together so that as many doses of vaccine as possible reach the member states according to the distribution schedule," Plenković said.

He said that efforts would be made by spring to vaccinate as many vulnerable people as possible, after which the general public would be vaccinated.

ZAGREB, 21 January 2021 - Ahead of a cabinet meeting on Thursday, Health Minister Vili Beroš said that compared to last week there were now 32% fewer cases of COVID-19 and today's data indicates 39 fewer hospitalised COVID patients and 15 fewer on ventilators.

Beroš said that we still have a high number of fatalities which forces us to be on alert. "We expected that the number of deaths would start to fall but that has not happened. However, there are fewer hospitalised patients in a serious condition," he said.

To date a total of 60,958 people have been vaccinated including 7,843 who have received both doses.

Beroš says that Croatia has not registered any cases of the new strain of coronavirus and that based on recommendations, it plans to increase the number of virus sequencing.

This was discussed yesterday at the European Commission's Scientific Council because Europe is worried about the new variant of the virus and has recommended stepping up of sequencing genomes in those situation where a larger number of infected people emerges which was recently the case in Varaždin and Međimurje counties and with arrivals from high-risk countries like South Africa and Great Britain, he explained.

Beroš said that that sequencing will be conducted in institutions that have the equipment for that type of genetic analysis such as the infectious diseases hospital and that he believes that the scientific community will contribute as the majority of institutions have that equipment.

When it comes to relaxing measures in Croatia, the minister said that the number of new cases is just one of the elements relevant to decide on measures. However, the decisions are also influenced by other facts such as winter months, the epidemiological situation in our neighbourhood, the emergence of the new strain of the virus, increased mobility with school starting and so on. 

"I think the worst thing now would be to consider steps that are not founded. Most of Europe is stepping up measures so it is not realistic to expect any relaxing until the epidemiological situation can guarantee safety," said Beroš.

ZAGREB, 21 January 2021 - In the last 24 hours, 5,735 persons have been tested for coronavirus in Croatia, and of them 776 have turned out to be positive, that is 13.5%, the national coronavirus crisis management team stated on Thursday morning.

In the last 24 hours, there have been 27 deaths linked to COVID-19, and Croatia's death toll stands now at 4,738.

Also, there are now 3,506 active cases in the country, and of them, 1,562 are receiving hospital treatment, including 136 patients placed on ventilators.

Since the outbreak of the infection in Croatia on 25 February, nearly 1.14 million tests have been conducted for this novel virus, and 227,326 people have tested positive.

 Of them, 219,082 have recovered to date, including 724 recoveries in the last 24 hours.

Currently, 15,702 persons are self-isolating.

January 21, 2021 - A plan to reopen restaurants and cafes in Croatia was leaked on Wednesday. The Croatian Caterers Association has responded.

The Croatian Caterers Association said that the hospitality sector's final decline, directed by the Civil Protection Headquarters, is underway.

According to them, the first outlines of the working document, which contains a general proposal of reopening within the catering and tourism sector, have been leaked. Sources close to the Headquarters claim that the first in line to open are those they believe have coped best with the overall situation, alluding to hotels, reports Index.hr. 

"The first outlines of the working document containing the principle of opening dynamics within the hospitality and tourism sector have been leaked. Sources close to the Headquarters claim that the first to open are those they think have coped best with the overall situation, alluding to hotels. The opening of restaurants is planned for the beginning of March, and only a few weeks later, cafe bars would open with the possibility of serving exclusively on the terraces. Based on all the above, the Headquarters decided to rule on the catering sector by reckless decisions, without involving the experts in defining the action plan for opening.

This scenario is unacceptable to us as an Association which, without exception, demands equal treatment of all catering facilities in a way that abandons the extraordinarily flawed and discriminatory model that defines WHO can work and adheres to the model that will determine WHAT should be done in which way to prevent the spread of infection from an epidemiological point of view. Putting subjects from the same sector in an unequal position based on their name might make sense a few centuries ago, but not today when we are all obliged to explain and argue our views with irrefutable facts as a result of serious studies and analyzes. In the Association, we take the position of the only legal representative of the profession seriously. For months, we have been trying to amortize the discrepancy between the needs of the market and the Headquarters' failed decisions. We are surprised by the Headquarters' approach after everything we have done in the last two months. From the first day the Decision was implemented by the Headquarters, which marked the second lockdown of the hospitality sector, we have appealed and offered solutions to all identified shortcomings of the decision.

We believe that the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia, following the announcements, will consider them at the end of the month. For months now, the National Caterers Association has been mentioned as a partner in the Civil Protection Headquarters' dialogue, and quality communication and consultation before making decisions is promised. At one point, we refrained from criticizing the Headquarters for reducing the burden they carry on their backs and thus enable calmer reasoning and better decisions, all in the hope that they will go with the best of intentions, taking into account all the relevant parameters and factors that have influenced decision making.

But in reality, we have served, and still serve only as a buffer zone, as a kind of shield that takes the blows and criticism of our colleagues, whose fate we share, because unlike the HOK and HGK whose affairs we have taken over because of their inertia or incompetence, we are not paid by forced taxes, but by our work in the profession that suffers the most significant burden of this crisis, without adequate compensation, without real arguments, and in fear of whether we will see tomorrow at all. The National Caterers Association leaders, President Marin Medak and Vice President Vedran Jakominić were forced to resign irrevocably from their positions after this outcome. They believe that the continuation of the monologue by the Headquarters without the profession's voice is a pure expression of distrust towards everyone whose rights are limited by their decisions.

As someone who knows the situation on the ground, in what fear and uncertainty our colleagues live and as someone whose future and bare existence also depend on the thinnest thread, it is becoming increasingly difficult to convince hundreds, even thousands of fellow caterers that the Headquarters know what it is doing and is acting with the best of intentions. We are legalists, we respect the law, and we adhere to all possible prescribed measures. Still, we hereby call for a new dialogue, for providing equal conditions and chances for survival for all, so that we can catch the last train which can prevent the dialogue at the table from being replaced by that on the street, as we have witnessed in recent days in Italy, Austria, Poland, and other European countries," reads the statement of the National Caterers Association of Caterers.

To read more about COVID-19 in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

January 20, 2021 - Nearly 30% of KBC Split employees have received the COVID-19 vaccine, which is an outstanding response. 

Dalmatinski Portal reports that Dr. Ante Punda, President of the Expert Council of KBC Split, presented how many hospital employees were vaccinated against COVID-19. 

"We had our regular session today, and I can state with satisfaction that all members have been vaccinated, apart from the ones who recently recovered from Covid. They will be vaccinated in the coming period. I thank the ministry and the media for the promotion. KBC is aware of the responsibility; to think of others, we have to think of ourselves.

Thanks to our epidemiological service that conducts vaccination, the response of employees is high. You have seen that epidemiological measures have yielded results. If we are responsible, we will reach the goal of having fewer cases. In three weeks, we vaccinated 1,082 employees, 435 doctors, and 318 nurses; the rest is support staff, our technicians, and laboratory technicians. Now comes the second phase of vaccination. That's about 28.5 percent. All KBC employees are invited. I think that’s a satisfactory figure for the first three weeks. We made the most of the vaccine. That is a respectable figure. We expect that the number of vaccinated will increase as more vaccine doses arrive," said Dr. Punda.

The director of KBC Split, Julija Meštrović, is delighted with the number of vaccinated employees.

"You know how it was said that interest in vaccination at this hospital was minimal. All the vaccine was used. First, those who work in the Covid center were vaccinated. It can't get any better than this. It was done quickly. The response is the best possible. Everyone we could vaccinate was vaccinated. Motivation is very high. The current situation shows this. I don’t know if some don’t want to get vaccinated. What has been achieved is a truly remarkable result. The situation in Croatia is excellent; we must continue to adhere to ongoing measures. The number of hospitalized is decreasing, and because of that, it is becoming easier to work. We have the opportunity to dedicate ourselves to other patients, which is very good," said Dr. Meštrović.

Illustration by Little Shiva

To read more about COVID-19 in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 20 January 2021 - Health Minister Vili Beroš said on Wednesday that Croatia was still registering positive trends in coronavirus infections and that 1,603 patients were being treated in hospitals today, which is 110 fewer than yesterday.

That is a big decline in one day, but there are two more patients on ventilators, so caution is still needed, Beroš said.

Reducing personal contacts, he stressed, is a guarantee for preventing the infection from spreading further, and vaccination gives hope.

"The delivery of the vaccine is currently stable, all manufacturers are planning to increase production and doses," Beroš said.

As for the disposal of infectious waste from hospitals, he said that several inter-departmental meetings had been held and that they were nearing a solution.

"We have also discussed long-term solutions which would imply legislative changes and the consideration of the fact that Croatia does not have a hazardous waste incinerator," he said.

Croatian Public Health Institute (HZJZ) head Krunoslav Capak said that Sisak-Moslavina County currently had the highest COVID-19 incidence, while Istria County had the lowest.

Croatia is ranked 7th in the EU in terms of the 14-day incidence and 20th in terms of its mortality rate, which is 1,134 per one million inhabitants, he said.

To date, 54,304 people have been vaccinated and 167 side effects have been reported.

Markotić advises caution due to new virus strain

The head of Zagreb's Dr Fran Mihaljevic hospital for infectious diseases, Alemka Markotić, once again urged caution due to the new more infectious strain of the virus, which has already appeared in the nighbouring countries Slovenia and Hungary.

"There is no question that it will also occur in Croatia," Markotić said.

She therefore called on citizens to comply with protective measures and wear masks and keep their distance, underscoring that the existing vaccines covered the mutations identified so far.

Asked about the situation with infectious waste in the Dr Fran Mihaljevic hospital, she said that part of it was in hermetically sealed containers and part of it was waiting to be taken away. She added that additional options were being considered so that Croatian health institution could take care of the matter on their own in the future.

As for the possibility of tightening measures like Germany, Davor Božinović, the head of the national COVID-19 crisis team, said that Croatia had its own approach which put it among the countries that were coping well with the epidemic.

He added that they were also following trends outside Croatia due to connections with neighbouring countries.

"The measures that will be adopted in 11 days will be the result of the situation in Croatia," he stressed.