ZAGREB, 27 March 2022 - More than 275,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been destroyed in Croatia due to expiration or failed donation, and close to two million doses, made by different producers, have been kept in storage, officials of the Croatian Public Health Institute (HZJZ) have said.

A total of 275,799 doses have been destroyed, of which 154,644 were produced by AstraZeneca.

A total of 5.2 million doses have been administered.

Interest in vaccination has been very low in recent weeks, with only about 150 people getting vaccinated with their first dose on a daily basis lately. The new, protein-based vaccine, made with traditional technology and available for the past three weeks, has not altered the situation.

Some anti-vaxxers had claimed they were waiting for that specific vaccine, however, HZJZ data show that so far only 286 people have been vaccinated with the new protein-based vaccine, while 153,445 doses are kept in storage.

HZJZ officials say the poor interest is as expected as those who had wanted to get vaccinated were able to choose over the past year and a half, between four vaccines, made by AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson&Johnson.

The largest amount of unused vaccines, 117,274 doses, was reported by Split-Dalmatia County, which is also the county with the lowest vaccination rate, with only 38.39% of the population having received the second shot.

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ZAGREB, 27 Nov, 2021 - In the last 24 hours 5,502 coronavirus cases and 51 COVID-19 deaths have been registered in Croatia, the national crisis management team said on Saturday.

There are 34,553 active cases, including 2,506 hospitalised patients, of whom 324 are on ventilators, while 28,272 persons are self-isolating.

To date 3,424,751 persons have been tested for the virus, including 13,372 in the last 24 hours.

Croatia has registered 599,977 coronavirus cases to date as well as 10,695 related deaths and 554,729 recoveries, of which 5,629 in the last 24 hours.

To date 53.43% of the total population has been vaccinated against COVID-19, including 63.77% of adults, 56.85% of whom have completed vaccination.

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ZAGREB, 27 Nov, 2021 - The deputy director of the Croatian Public Health Institute (HZJZ), Ivana Pavić Šimetin, said on Friday it could be assumed that the new coronavirus variant, called Omicron, had still not arrived in Croatia, confirming that the COVID-19 vaccine for children would arrive on 20 December.

Croatian scientists, too, are taking samples to see if the new coronavirus variant is present, and their sequencing takes about ten days, she said in an interview with Nova TV.

She noted that one could assume that the new variant had still not reached Croatia.

Pavić Šimetin explained that mutations can always occur if a virus is very much present in the population, if a large number of people are infected or are susceptible to infection.

In order to prevent mutations, it is important for as many people as possible to get vaccinated, which reduces virus circulation as well as the possibility of new variants emerging, she said.

The HZJZ official also said that on 20 December Croatia would obtain the Pfizer vaccine for children from age 5-11. Its distribution will take a few days, after which the vaccination of children will begin, Pavić Šimetin said.

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ZAGREB, 14 Nov, 2021 - The Homeland Movement said on Sunday it supported protests against "attempts to forcibly introduce vaccination and blackmail via so-called COVID certificates," adding that many of its members have joined in the protests and will not agree to segregation and first- and second-class citizens.

The opposition party said that under the Council of Europe's Resolution 2361, vaccination is not mandatory and no one must be discriminated against for not getting vaccinated.

It is hypocritical and politically rotten to hear the national COVID-19 crisis management team and the prime minister claim that there is no coercion against unvaccinated citizens or those who refuse to get tested, while on the other hand they are being fired because of "so-called" COVID certificates and prevented from exercising their right to work, access state institutions, free movement and many other human and civil rights, the party said.

Every citizen should have the right to choose whether to get vaccinated, the party said, adding that it would do everything at its disposal to prevent mandatory vaccination.

The Homeland Movement said it welcomed the Croatian Bishops Conference's objection to forced vaccination.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković's policy of stability culminated in his statement that mass vaccination is important also for raising Croatia's credit rating, the party said.

Correlating the credit rating and people's health is a continuation of the policy of ridiculing common sense, whose victims are all Croatian citizens, whether they have been vaccinated or not, it added.

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