ZAGREB, 9 March, 2021 - The Croatian government on Monday adopted a conclusion authorising Health Minister Vili Beroš to sign an order for the procurement of the Pfizer Inc./BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

The conclusion was adopted in line with an agreement signed between the European Commission and Pfizer Inc./BioNTech Manufacturing GmbH on 17 February 2021.

The funds for the procurement of the vaccine will be secured by the Croatian Health Insurance Fund.

The EC has so far signed six agreements on the upfront purchase of vaccines against COVID-19 on behalf of EU member states. The February 17 agreement between the EC and Pfizer refers to the purchase of an additional 200 million doses.

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

ZAGREB, 9 March, 2021 - Over the past 24 hours, 491 people in Croatia have contracted coronavirus and 12 have died, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Tuesday.

There are currently 3,357 active cases of the infection, 785 COVID patients are being treated in hospitals, and 78 of them are on ventilators.

Since 25 February 2020, when the first case of the infection was recorded in Croatia, the country has registered 247,099 people infected with coronavirus.

A total of 5,621 people have died and 238,121 have recovered, 476 of whom over the past 24 hours.

There are currently 13,687 people in self-isolation.

To date, 1,396,129 people have been tested, including 8,183 in the last 24 hours.

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

March 9, 2021 - Krunoslav Capak explains that the look of COVID-19 vaccination certificates in Croatia and the EU has been defined, though they are currently only used for medical purposes and not for crossing the border. 

Jutarnji List reports that the appearance of EU COVID-19 vaccination certificates has been defined.

As Krunoslav Capak, head of the Croatian Institute of Public Health and a member of the National Civil Protection Headquarters, explained to Jutarnji list, the certificate must contain the name of the vaccinated person, the country they come from, the name of the vaccine used, the date of vaccination, the serial number of the vaccine and a bar at which the data can be read.

"The appearance of vaccination certificates has been defined, but for now, they are used only for medical purposes and not to cross the border. The use of certificates for crossing the border is now intensively discussed. The time will surely come when the EU will make a decision. However, there are still a lot of questions and controversies," said Capak, adding that no EU country has made a decision on crossing the border based on vaccination, but there are bilateral agreements.

"We also have some bilateral talks about recognizing vaccination certificates mutually," Capak added.

He further explained that there are still no visuals but an agreement at the EU level on the certificate's content.

"An agreement has been reached on the content of the certificate. It should contain the name and surname of the person, the vaccine that was used, the date of vaccination, and the serial number of the vaccine," Capak explained.

The state should also be listed. Given that it will be a smart solution, Capak says it will take up to three months for it to work. Namely, the EU is still discussing whether vaccinated citizens will receive smart cards or have a code that can be read on a mobile phone.

"It seems to me that the most probable variant is with a QR code, but as we are talking about a large number of people from all over the EU, it is clear that it is a big job for data collection, but also for experts who will find IT solutions," concludes Capak and adds that the rules will apply to Croatian citizens as well as to the rest of Europe.

Already now, all citizens who have been vaccinated, regardless of which vaccine - Pfizer, Moderna, or AstraZeneca - receive a vaccination certificate, i.e., a card with their name and surname, the vaccine they received, and the serial number. It is a cardboard card that additionally contains when the second dose is received. Different manufacturers have different cards, but the principle is the same. Each card also has a QR code, but it does not contain the data of the person who was vaccinated, but information about the vaccine they received.

As Capak also points out, such certificates can only be used for medical purposes for the time being. Still, the EU is discussing what kind of application they could have, especially in tourism. Although vaccination is voluntary, some airlines have already made it clear that only vaccinated passengers will fly. Some EU members have already announced that such certificates will substitute for a negative PCR test when entering their country. Israel, for example, announces that without such confirmation, citizens will not be allowed to enter mass gatherings, and unvaccinated employees will work in dislocated offices and will not be allowed to socialize with others.

Such an approach opens up many controversies, especially in human rights, given that vaccination is voluntary and that, at least for now, there are not enough vaccines on the market for everyone. Thus, the question arises whether vaccination can be required as a condition for entry, for example, on a plane.

Therefore, as Jutarnji finds out, in addition to IT requirements, the huge deficit of vaccines on the market is one reason why passports will not work for some time.

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

March the 9th, 2021 - Croatian coronavirus state aid, introduced as part of an economic/job preservation package by the government, has helped many keep their heads about water during these unprecedent times. Many enterprises have now returned that money.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Brnic writes, Solin-based automotive component maker Ad Plastik is the first Croatian enterprise to publicly announce this year that it is returning its Croatian coronavirus state aid which was received last year, at a time when it was forced to suspend production due to the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent lockdown.

In an interview with Jutarnji list, the President of the Management Board, Marinko Dosen, announced that he intends to return the 12.3 million kuna in Croatian coronavirus state aid that was used to secure the payment of employee salaries last year, with an explanation that last year ended with a slightly better result than initially expected.

However, it should be noted that in a week´s time, Ad Plastik is holding a general meeting of its shareholders at which one of the points will be the payment of dividends, in which the reason for the return of Croatian coronavirus state aid should also be sought.

Namely, one of the conditions for using the aforementioned economic measure is the obligation that the company will not pay out from its operating profit.

This condition was mentioned a few months after the virus first arrived in Croatia and was a reason as to why many companies quickly changed their minds and decided to return Croatian coronavirus state aid back to the government. Although, as it now seems, the main trigger for the return of the aid was nevertheless the fact that the list of all aid recipients would be made public.

According to the data we received from the Croatian Employment Service (CES), so far, 20,850 Croatian enterprises/employers have returned their Croatian coronavirus state aid, and the total amount that sat on that account after its return now stands at almost 206 million kuna. Since the beginning of the implementation of this measure, a total of 9.395 billion kuna has been paid out to companies to help them preserve jobs, of which 432 million kuna was for contributions to those in the second pension pillar.

Croatian coronavirus state aid was paid out to over 111 thousand employers and almost 684 thousand of their employees. The most common reasons for the refund of these benefits, as they have stated from the CES, was the withdrawal of support from their employer, and improperly paid support for sick workers at the expense of the HZZO in the month for which support was received, failure to meet income criteria or other criteria, the non-payment of wages to workers, wrong payments due to multiple requests and so on.

"Consequently, we would not list the payment of profits as the predominant reason for the decision to return the support by the employer," they pointed out from the CES.

The institution in charge of implementing Croatian coronavirus state aid for job preservation also says that they note that "voluntary returns mainly took place in the period from June to August 2020, while significant voluntary returns have not been noticed recently."

Among the first to return the aid in Croatia, but also on a wider, international level, was the popular Swedish furniture chain Ikea.

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March the 9th, 2021 - Slavonia tourism isn´t something that is booming, living in the shadow of its coastal cousin of Dalmatia and indeed other parts of continental Croatia such as Zagreb, but an increase has been seen...

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, proving to be the only choice for coronavirus travel for Croatian guests, destinations in continental Croatia during the pandemic were given a unique opportunity to be promoted live on the local market. They were also provided with the chance to finally impose themselves as an equal player in national tourism policy and promotion.

This year, and especially in 2022, which could be much more upbeat for tourism, they plan to capitalise on Slavonia tourism, which has been promoted for years as a joint cluster on the foreign market, and since last year they have been together here on the domestic market. Their goal is guests who are looking for much more than sun and sea when on holiday.

This was revealed by Rujana Busic Srpak, director of the Vukovar-Srijem County Tourist Board and the coordinator of the Slavonia tourist cluster, into which five counties in eastern Croatia joined last year through an informal association.

"Our goal is to more strongly recognise ¨green Croatia¨ on both domestic and foreign markets, areas that do not have the sea to boast of but have so much else to offer, providing real value for money to travellers who are looking for such an offer, and their number has increased due to these new circumstances.

This year we´re still addressing the domestic market, made up of people who were more or less unable to travel abroad, and it what we have to offer and what it is worth returning to has finally been given the spotlight. As soon as the pandemic subsides, we will invest more in the promotion of Slavonia tourism across foreign markets that have great potential, but we will need more help from the Croatian Tourist Board (HTZ) and travel organisers, because our advertising budgets are very limited,¨ explained Busic Srpak.

She also pointed out that 2020 brought completely new trends in travel to Slavonia, with the biggest growth in the otherwise dead season - in the first few months of the year, and in the summer when only her county achieved 68 percent of the traffic they saw back in pre-pandemic, record 2019. Papuk Nature Park recently announced that the winter saw 300 percent more guests arrive than came last winter, which prompted them to invest in a new toboggan run.

"When it comes to domestic guests, in addition to showing them what we offer, a good part of our task is to break the prejudice that everything east of Zagreb or far away has tied to it, or the social case, which is that the area is underdeveloped. Foreign markets are looking for a different promotion than the just the Croatian Adriatic, partly because a good part of our guests come by the Danube. As such, river cruisers are on an upward trend, and we traditionally attract guests from Germany, Austria, Italy, Slovenia, but also the USA and even Australia.

In the French market, Slavonia tourism promotions were realised in cooperation with the Croatian National Tourist Board representation there, and a more intensive presentation for the British market was planned in 2020. However, it seems that things will hang on a bit and wait for the overall launch of foreign promotional activities,¨ said Busic Srpak.

A good part of the year is already behind us, and things are still being decided on a weekly basis, there is a lot of uncertainty and that is why the view of the Slavonia cluster is focused more on 2022. Thematic packages are currently being designed for agencies that will sell it.

The informal association of five county tourist boards from Slavonia was accompanied by a strategic plan until 2025, on the basis of which projects and joint packages are nominated - Slavonia wants to use the strength of the Croatian brand, but also its own strengths. Slavonia tourism has infrastructure, about 2100 tourist beds that need to be filled first, then we can think about building new ones, this sort of thing is partly funded by the EU.

"The support system in Croatian tourism should be focused on underdeveloped areas that need support in order to strengthen their market position(s) and thus strengthen the destination itself. The development of underdeveloped areas should be our goal, but according to the criteria of quality and importance for the overall development of the destination,¨ concluded Busic Srpak.

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March 9, 2021 - The first Croatia corona map hit the Internet one year ago today - how different the world looked back then.

One day, sometime in the future, when the pace of life slows down and there is time to reflect, we may begin to piece together the phenomenon that was 2020, and its milestones of constant change. Facebook Memories is going to be a very interesting tool in the years to come, as memories of various stages of 2020 flash back into our lives. 

And today is the one-year anniversary of a little piece of Croatian COVID-19 history - the publishing of the first Croatia corona map on the Internet. 

As with most of the best ideas at TCN, it had nothing to with me. Gustavo was working wonders generating revenue from Adsense as a time all sources of income were cancelling.  He did an amazing job and would feed me hot topics as suggestions. 

Apparently, corona maps were becoming a search thing globally. Why not do an article with 'Croatia corona map' as the keyword?

My design skills are on a par with my cooking skills, so after Gustavo's brilliant idea, Mrs TCN took over and came up with the first Croatia corona map. It was a huge hit, with more than 60,000 visits in the first few days from memory.  A couple of weeks later, Index introduced theirs, then the official Koronavirus website went live, and so our job was done. 

Amazing to look back, isn't it. Just 12 cases total, no deaths and no deaths with the neighbours either. 

Italy, however, was a different story, and there was some discussion internally at TCN whether or not to included in the map. In the end, I decided against (something I would have done differently with the benefit of hindsight). 

The aim of the map was to inform people how close or distant they were from live cases. All that was reported in the international media was that Croatia had 12 cases. It was hard (back then) to see where. By adding the airports to the map, people could see how close or far they would be from live cases. 

A small moment in Croatian COVID history. How will the 2022 Croatia corona map look a year from now? Hopefully it will not even exist. 

For the latest news about coronavirus in Croatia, follow the dedicated TCN section. 

March 9, 2021 - Dubrovnik Mayor Mato Franović announced on Monday that Croatia should welcome vaccinated UK tourists without restrictions and all Britons who overcame COVID-19 or have a negative PCR test from May 1, 2021. 

HRTurizam writes that the UK is currently the focus of all tourist destinations.

It is also among the top three countries globally in terms of vaccinating citizens, with only Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) vaccinating more citizens. By Sunday, at least 21 million Britons were given their first dose. About 400,000 citizens are vaccinated every week, which is why all tourist countries are turning directly to the British market, from Greece, the Canary Islands, Turkey, Cyprus, Spain, and many other countries, because it is in British tourists that should travel en masse first due to high vaccination coverage.

The mayor of Dubrovnik, Mato Franković, is keeping this in mind. After a recent initiative to enable tourists at Croatian airports to be tested for COVID, he launched a new initiative aimed precisely at tourists from Great Britain.

Namely, Franković sent a proposal to the competent ministries to agree with the United Kingdom for British guests.

All Britons who received two doses of vaccine overcame COVID-19 or have a negative PCR test would be allowed to come to Croatia on vacation without restrictions. May 1.

"The UK market is the most important tourist market in the city of Dubrovnik, and since the UK left the European Union, its guests are considered guests from third countries, and the quarantine obligation is in force upon arrival at the destination. Given that such a measure could seriously jeopardize the season, this proposal was made, following the examples of Cyprus and Portugal that have concluded such agreements," said Franković, adding that leading British media report almost daily on which European Union countries the British are allowed to enter without having to quarantine upon arrival.

The consequences of Dubrovnik's inclusion on the UK red list are most clearly shown by the numbers of arrivals, according to which Dubrovnik ended 2020 with 20% of the total number of overnight stays compared to the number of overnight stays in 2019, concluded Franković.

Both initiatives are focused on air guests because the city of Dubrovnik is extremely dependent on air traffic. Still, they also show the mayor's proactivity and determination to define some things much faster. There is not much time until summer, and everyone is currently targeting the UK market with marketing messages. 

The European Union will present a "digital green pass" on March 17, i.e., to present the framework of the Member States' decision regarding Covid passports and all other open issues regarding opening to tourism. It is also important to point out that according to Minister Brnjac, Croatia is considering a model that would allow tourists to be tested by rapid antigen tests, as well as PCR testing at several points, which will be decided in cooperation with regional tourist boards and the Croatian Institute of Public Health.

On the topic of introducing digital green passports that would enable easier travel, and at the same time provide air destinations with a faster tourist recovery, Dubrovnik Mayor Mato Franković held a meeting with the Director-General of the European Region of Airports Council International Olivier Jankovec and the president of the Air Transport Association at the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, Tonči Peović.

Olivier Jankovec informed Mayor Franković that 100 European airports had introduced COVID testing so far. Still, he believes that the full implementation of the system requires urgent harmonization of recognizing rapid antigen tests between the EU member states, allowing easier travel.

On the other hand, Mayor Franković presented the initiatives and protocols proposed by the City of Dubrovnik, which relate to travel from all countries, regardless of whether they are part of the EU or not. The proposal introduces the rules according to the zones 'green', 'orange' and 'red,' and following them; guests would have certain conditions for coming to Croatia. Thus, the goal is not to stop travel but to make it possible for everyone under certain conditions.

Do you believe that Croatia should welcome vaccinated UK tourists without restrictions from May 1 this year?

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ZAGREB, 8 March, 2021 - The head of the national COVID response team, Davor Božinović, said on Monday that it is difficult to expect any further relaxation of measures after 15 March considering that numbers of new coronavirus cases are on the increase.

"At the end of the week we should decide on whether to extend the current measures as they expire on 15 March. It is still too early to say anything definite but considering the increase in numbers, it is difficult to expect any further relaxation of measures as of 15 March. We need to focus on maintaining the current measures so we don't have to go back," said Božinović.

Capak: 16% increase in new infections on the week

There were 94 new cases of coronavirus registered on Monday while 19 people died. The share of positive cases of the 2,178 tests conducted was 4.3%. That share was 8.6% in the past 7 days and 8.1% in the past 14 days. There are 805 hospitalised COVID patients, 74 of whom are on ventilators.

We have 16% more people infected on the week, the head of the Croatian Institute for Public Health, Krunoslav Capak, warned.

Croatia is currently in sixth place with regard to the incidence rate in the EU and 18th with regard to fatalities.

Capak said that an analysis of an immunology study conducted by the Zagreb Infectious Diseases Hospital could result in a new policy in the fight against coronavirus.

Anyone who has recovered from COVID-19 and has been given their first vaccine dose need not receive a second dose, he said.

Capak advised that the situation with the supply of vaccines has stabilised over the past two weeks and that another 62,400 doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine is expected in two shipments this week.

Johnson&Johnson's vaccine should be registered by the end of March and the first shipment of 900,000 doses should arrive mid-April.

As far as crossing the border based on a certificate of vaccination is concerned, not one country has introduced that measure as yet.

"There are bilateral talks between countries and we have some bilateral talks too to mutually recognise vaccination certificates," said Capak. 

The look of the certificate, which is used only for medical purposes, has been defined for now while its use for crossing borders is being discussed at the EU level.

Beroš: Massive check points for vaccination test run

Health Minister Vili Beroš said that so far 54,008 people have registered online to be vaccinated and there have also been 4,271 calls in that regard.

"We are witnessing that massive check points for vaccination are a test run for what is to follow in the second and third phases, when more vaccines are expected," said Beroš.

We must not allow this mild increase in new cases to become a trend, he said. "Vaccination is encouraging but it must not be the cause of premature relaxation."

ZAGREB, 8 March, 2021 - In the last 24 hours, of 2,178 coronvairus tests performed in Croatia, 4.3%, that is 94, have returned positive, the country's COVID-19 crisis management team told a news conference in Zagreb on Monday.

Currently, there are 805 COVID patients in hospitals, including 74 placed on respirators.

In the last 24 hours, the health authorities have reported 19 new fatalities linked to COVID, and the death toll stands now at 5,609.

ZAGREB, 8 March, 2021 - The distribution of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus single-dose vaccine can be expected in Croatia in early April, the head of Zagreb's Fran Mihaljević hospital for infectious diseases said on Sunday evening.

Asked by the commercial NOVA TV broadcaster whether Croatia is facing the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the hospital's head, Dr. Alemka Markotić, said that the developments in Croatia's neighbourhood and in Europe "are being followed with the closest attention."

"The numbers are rapidly rising. Each country is trying to take care of its specific features and act accordingly," the doctor said adding that Croatia is currently among the countries that are faring best against COVID.

Markotić recalls that the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) tried to give some common guidelines, however, everybody assessed that their respective countries had too many differences and specific features.

"(Anti-epidemic) measures are important, we should adhere to them so as to keep the things at bay," Markotić said, among other things.

She added that on Monday a team of Croatian researchers would present findings of a study about the efficacy of the second shot of two-dose vaccines. The research has been conducted in Croatia.

The findings show that a high antibody titer was produced by some organisms after the they received the second dose of the COVID vaccination, she said.