April 9, 2021 - A working group is being set up to develop a technical solution for cross-border interoperable digital green certificates in Croatia.

"Vaccination of employees in the tourism sector begins with the third phase of vaccination. I believe it will be very soon," said the Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac, adding that based on data received so far in the proposed surveys, the number of employees who would enter priority vaccination in the tourism sector is about 68,000, reports HRTurizam.

"Given the nature of the work as well as the significant number of contacts that tourism workers make, it is necessary to vaccinate before the start of the season," said Brnjac.

A working group is being set up to develop a technical solution for cross-border interoperable digital green certificates in line with EU-level talks.

At Thursday's 52nd Government session, the Ministry of the Interior (MUP) proposed a Decision to establish a working group to develop a technical solution for cross-border interoperable digital green certificates.

"We will soon start creating a digital system of certificates of vaccination, testing, and recovery to enable citizens of the Republic of Croatia and the EU free and epidemiologically safe cross-border mobility and residence in our country," said Davor Bozinovic, Minister of the Interior.

Namely, the European Commission coordinates a common European response to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic. Following the development of the epidemiological situation and health and medical measures, it is necessary to develop other effective measures to combat COVID-19 and enable free movement in EU member states and third countries or green digital certificates, so-called 'covid passports'.

Therefore, they have recognized the need to ensure freedom of cross-border movement through establishing a system for issuing, verifying, and accepting vaccination, testing, and recovery certificates to facilitate free movement during the COVID-19 pandemic (digital green certificate) that would be interoperable between the EU Member States and third countries.

To this end, on 17 March 2021, the European Commission presented a Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on a framework for issuing, verifying, and accepting cross-border interoperable vaccination, testing, and recovery certificates to facilitate free movement during the COVID-19 pandemic (digital green certificate). 

Croatia has expressed readiness to establish a national system of digital green certificates and their cross-border interoperability through the EU accession plan that the European Commission plans to establish in April, May, and June 2021, according to the Ministry of the Interior.

To establish a technical solution and to develop a national system of digital green certificates, the Ministry of the Interior is tasked with concluding a contract with AKD d.o.o. (Agency for commercial activity production, service, and trade d.o.o.), since AKD was established to perform the tasks of creating personal ID cards, passports, visas, driver's licenses and other solutions in the field of identity and security.

The Decision instructs the Ministry of Health to provide the Working Group referred to in this Decision with all necessary professional support, especially in fulfilling the following tasks: representing Croatia in the operational working groups of the European Commission's eHealth Network, which coordinates implementing the pilot project of the technical solution for digital green certificates; ensuring the integrity, confidentiality, availability, and non-repudiation of machine-readable data on vaccinated, tested and sick persons automatically and in real-time, accessible from data sources owned by the Ministry of Health, which will be the basis for issuing cross-border interoperable digital green certificates.

Recall that according to the new and expanded criteria for the entry of tourists into Croatia, tourists who have either been vaccinated, contracted COVID-19, or have a negative PCR or antigen test from the list of EU tests, can enter Croatia.

Follow the latest travel updates and COVID-19 news from Croatia HERE.

For more on travel in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

April the 9th, 2021 - The paradoxical situation with the Croatian COVID-19 vaccination process is continuing as a city five times smaller than the Croatian capital of Zagreb vaccinates twice the amount of people.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, following the general rehearsal held on Tuesday this week, to which 90 Zagreb residents of those invited (500 invitations were sent out) for vaccination responded, only 783 of the 1,500 invited ended up actually coming and being vaccinated on Wednesday. Significantly fewer people came than were actually invited, which poses a concerning issue.

"We aren't very happy with the response. In any case, it's better than it was the day before,'' stated the Andrija Stampar Institute's Tatjana Petricevic Vidovic.

Over in Rijeka, the same mass vaccination process took place using AstraZeneca, but the results there were much, much better. In a city six times smaller than Zagreb, twice as many people were vaccinated in one day than in Zagreb - 1,400. This news signals continuing issues surrounding the Croatian COVID-19 vaccination process which aren't likely to clear themselves up soon.

As of this week, everyone living in Zagreb should probably be making their way (upon invitation) to the Zagreb Fair (Zagrebacki Velesajam) for vaccination against the novel virus. There is no more vaccination with the first dose for outpatient clinics, but instead for those who applied through the vaccination portal and those who were on the lists of their family doctors who are also invited.

"It's done in the sense of the GP taking out his notebook again and calling his patients who haven't been vaccinated yet, asking them if they want to be vaccinated with AstraZeneca and if they do want to, he then he refers them them for vaccination at the Zagreb Fair," explained the president of the Croatian Family Medicine Coordination, Natasa Ban Toskic.

Thus, the aforementioned Zagreb-based paradox was created. Finally, in a long and somewhat embarrassing Croatian COVID-19 vaccination process, there are now many mass vaccination points and a slightly larger number of doses has finally arrived, but there have also been mass absences of citizens and problems with invitations being accepted.

"Are you thinking of just letting everyone come next week, and whoever wants to get vaccinated can come and receive it?" Health Minister Vili Beros was asked.

"Thank you for that question. Theoretically, perhaps in the way you suggested, we'd end up harming some older people who had previously applied to be vaccinated. However, of course, in the given circumstances, we'll do everything to make sure we use up every dose,'' Beros answered for RTL.

He added that this was not ruled out as an option as the Croatian COVID-19 vaccination process goes on. “We need to be flexible and do what's best for the healthcare system,” he concluded.

For more on coronavirus specific to Croatia, including travel, quarantine and border rules, as well as testing centre locations across the country, make sure to bookmark this page.

April the 9th, 2021 - Croatian travellers, perhaps currently better to say ''would be Croatian travellers'' now consider the ability to travel and head off somewhere new more important than they did before the coronavirus pandemic struck and made the entire idea of travelling for leisure almost impossible.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Ana Blaskovic writes, by intensifying the coronavirus vaccination procedure, people around the world are eager to travel once again, and nearly two-thirds of those surveyed by Booking.com found that travel is more important to them now than it was before the pandemic took the world by storm.

The digital platform conducted a survey back in January this year on 28,000 passengers from 28 countries, including 1,001 respondents from here in Croatia, which showed that after months on end of restricted movement, Croatian travellers and indeed others can now "see the light at the end of the tunnel" because of the advent of the vaccine.

Two-thirds of travellers are hoping to travel somewhere for leisure and tourism purposes at some point during 2021, and just as many have an even greater desire to travel than before the pandemic struck precisely because of last year’s unprecedented restrictions. More than half of passengers, more precisely 59 percent of them, said they would not travel abroad until they were vaccinated against the novel virus, and 55 percent said they would only travel to countries that have introduced their own vaccination programmes.

For tourism workers, the important and deeply concerning information is certainly that as many as 41 percent of respondents are still reluctant and even skeptical about whether the vaccine will really contribute to safer travel at all.

Six out of ten passengers believe that they will be able to travel somewhere to the beach by the summer of this year, only six percent intend to book an active vacation, and only five percent of them would choose a city break this year.

73 percent of the respondents would agree to travel with a mask on their face, and the vast majority, 64 percent, would support a travel ban for people without a mask, Booking.com pointed out.

For more, follow our travel section.

ZAGREB, 8 April, 2021 - Over the past 24 hours, Croatia has registered 3,217 new cases of coronavirus infection, which is almost twice as many as on Wednesday when there were 1,649 new cases, and there have been 36 deaths, according to data from the national COVID-19 crisis management team released on Thursday.

The number of active cases in Croatia today stands at 12,767. There are 1,756 COVID patients in hospitals, 171 of whom are on ventilators.

Since 25 February 2020, when Croatia registered its first case of the infection, a total of 285,765 people have contracted coronavirus, 6,185 of them have died and 266,813 have recovered, including 1,775 in the last 24 hours.

There are currently 28,763 people in self-isolation.

To date, 1,610,669 people have been tested, 11,216 of whom have been tested over the past 24 hours.

As of 7 April, 533,409 doses of vaccine have been used, and 432,601 people have been vaccinated. Of them, 330,142 people have received the first dose, and 100,808 have received both doses. For 1,651 people, there is no data on which dose they have received.

For more about Covid-19 in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 7 April, 2021 - Over the past 24 hours, Croatia has registered 1,649 new cases of coronavirus infection and 36 deaths, and the number of active cases currently stands at 11,361, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Wednesday.

There are 1,750 COVID patients in hospitals, 160 of whom are on ventilators.

Since 25 February 2020, when Croatia registered its first case of the infection, a total of 282,548 people have contracted coronavirus, of whom 6,149 have died and 265,038 have recovered, including 1,280 in the last 24 hours.

There are 27,406 people currently in self-isolation. To date, 1,599,453 have been tested, 9,466 of whom over the past 24 hours.

As of 6 April, 526,414 doses of vaccine have been used, and 427,387 people have been vaccinated. Of them, 326,711 people have received the first dose, and 99,027 have received both doses. For 1,649 people, there is no data on which dose they have received.

For more about Covid-19 in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

April the 7th, 2021 - The coronavirus pandemic is continuing to hold the entire world in its iron grip with lockdowns and complicated measures being introduced and changed frequently. With that said, can one even enter Croatia without quarantine? Yes and no.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, those passengers who don't have a negative molecular (PCR) or a negative rapid antigen test that is not older than 48 hours when entering the country will be entered into a digital monitoring platform for COVID-19 as people who must go into mandatory self-isolation/quarantine in which they must spend 10 days, according to a report from 24sata.

If they want to shorten that time spent in mandatory quarantine/self-isolation, passengers can be tested for the novel coronavirus immediately upon entering Croatia, but they must remain in self-isolation until a negative test result arrives. This is the procedure adopted by the National Civil Protection Headquarters on March 31st, 2021, and it refers to all people entering the country.

Those who enter the country and want to be tested only after arriving in Croatia must order their tests. Going for their coronavirus test is a justified reason for leaving home or your accommodation for the duration of mandatory quarantine.

Of course, those people must wear a mask and adhere to all other current epidemiological measures. The individual then must send their negative test result to the email address they received on the leaflet given to them upon entry by the border police, and based on that result, the police will remove the person's obligation to remain in self-isolation within the aforementioned digital platform.

If a passenger is allowed to enter Croatia on the basis of a having a negative rapid antigen test and intends to stay in Croatia for more than 10 days, then they must be retested for the novel virus by the tenth day from the date of issue of that initial test.

Those who are tested upon entering the country and end up receiving a positive test result or develop symptoms of the disease during their time spent in quarantine must contact a doctor. If they aren't residents of the country or for whatever reason don't have a GP, the owner of the facility in which they're residing must provide the contact details for a doctor for them.

For more on coronavirus, including border, quarantine and travel rules, as well as testing centres located across the country, make sure to bookmark this page.

April the 7th, 2021 - Krunoslav Capak, the director of the Croatian Institute of Public Health, has spoken out about potential changes to the Croatian attitude towards the AstraZeneca vaccine, about which there has been many questions.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic held a video meeting with representatives of the Croatian National Civil Protection Headquarters, all county prefects and heads of county public health institutes regarding the fight against the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the distribution of upcoming doses of vaccines.

The meeting was also attended by the Croatian Minister of Health Vili Beros and the Director of the CNIPH Krunoslav Capak, who gave their statements after the meeting.

“We talked to the prefects and directors of the county institutes about the vaccination process. Significantly larger quantities are coming at the beginning of the week, we wanted to oblige them to be organisationally prompt and ready for the arrival of larger quantities of vaccines. A little less than 100,000 doses will come this week, and 490,000 doses by the end of the month,'' explained Beros.

Beros also commented on the connection between AstraZeneca and concerning complaints such as blood clots.

"We're following everything that's happening, but before we can come to any conclusions we need to wait for the official position of the EMA and its regulatory bodies. We talked about it too, all the options are on the table. In order to act, we must get clear and unquestionable information from the EMA,'' said Beros, adding that any vaccine is a salvation at this moment as the pandemic rages on globally.

"Whoever collects all of the documentation and monitors the side effects can give an assessment. I'd suggest that we wait for what will happen from the EMA,'' said Krunoslav Capak.

“It's very difficult to decide on a suspension [of the AstraZeneca vaccine], it's possible that something will be changed for the recommendation and instructions for the use of that particular vaccine. If something like that happens, it will come in the form of a recommendation for certain age groups to not receive that vaccine,'' explained Krunoslav Capak.

He also said they had instructed that the third phase of the coronavirus vaccination process could begin immediately given the large quantities of vaccines arriving.

"Defacto, we're starting with the third phase of vaccination," Beros added before referring to the meeting with wholesalers.

"At the moment, we aren't thinking about increasing healthcare contributions. Today's meeting is a clear signal that we want to work together to solve this problem. The meeting was held in a constructive tone and Finance Minister Maric left the possibility of additional funds that would ensure the regular functioning of wholesalers according to the healthcare system open,'' concluded Minister Vili Beros.

For more information on coronavirus specific to Croatia, including travel, border and quarantine rules, as well as testing centre locations across the country, bookmark this page.

ZAGREB, 6 April, 2021 - Over the past 24 hours, Croatia has registered 735 new cases of the coronavirus infection and 30 deaths, and the number of active cases currently stands at 11,028, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Tuesday.

There are 1,713 COVID patients in hospitals, 155 of whom are on ventilators. In the last 24 hours, 1,531 people have recovered and 6,333 have been tested.

Since 25 February 2020, when Croatia registered its first case, 280,899 people have contracted coronavirus, 263,758 have recovered and 6,113 have died.

To date, a total of 1,589,987 people have been tested.

There are currently 26,592 people in self-isolation.

As of 5 April, 524,724 doses of vaccine have been used, and 426,310 people have been vaccinated, 326,247 of whom have received the first dose and 98,414 of whom have received both doses. For 1,649 people, there is no data on which dose they have received.

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

April the 6th, 2021 - As was previously announced before the Easter holidays, mass Zagreb coronavirus vaccination is set to begin at the Zagreb Fair (Zagrebacki Velesajam) on Wednesday.

As the fight against the spread of the novel coronavirus continues across the globe, the City of Zagreb is attempting to step up its game and vaccinate as many of its residents as possible against SARS-CoV-2 this week.

As Index writes, as the mass Zagreb coronavirus vaccination process is set to get underway on Wednesday, as many as 1,500 of the capital's citizens are expected to be vaccinated on that very day. National Civil Protection staff members will take care of maintaining public order and helping the elderly out when they come to be vaccinated.

Assistant Director of the Institute of Public Health Cecilija Rotim told HTV that Pavilion 6 is ready. She explained what the vaccination would look like:

"Every person will get an appointment for when they need to come here to receive their vaccination, so I'd like to ask my fellow citizens not to come earlier than their appointment time states, but literally five minutes before their appointment, so as not to create extra crowds.

Vaccination is going to be provided for everyone on the list who has previously confirmed their arrival at the site. They'll first go to the doctor at the triage point where they will undertake a short interview, the doctor will look at the individual's medical history and look into any possible contraindications to that particular person being vaccinated.

After that, the individual will go to the nurse to receive their vaccination against the novel coronavirus.The next stage will be when the person goes to see our administrative staff where they will receive confirmation that they have been vaccinated. After that, the person will undergo observation that lasts fifteen to about thirty minutes,'' Rotim explained.

For more on coronavirus in Croatia, including travel and border rules, as well as testing centre locations across the country, make sure to bookmark this page.

ZAGREB, 5 April, 2021 - Over the past 24 hours, Croatia has registered 138 new cases of the coronavirus infection and 25 people have died, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Monday.

A total of 1,154 people have been tested in the last 24 hours.

The number of active cases in Croatia today stands at 11,854, including 1,616 COVID patients in hospitals, 156 of whom are on ventilators.

Since 25 February 2020, when Croatia registered its first case, a total of 280,164 people have contracted the novel coronavirus.

There have been 262,227 recoveries, including 1,691 over the past 24 hours, and the death toll is 6,083.

To date, 1,583,654 people have been tested, 1,154 of whom in the last 24 hours, and there are currently 29,951 people in self-isolation.

As of 4 April, 524,371 doses of vaccine have been used, and 426,037 people have been vaccinated.

A total of 326,055 people have received the first dose, while 98,334 have been inoculated with both doses. For 1,648 people, there is no data on which dose they have received.

For more about Covid-19 in Croatia, follow TC's dedicated page.