25 June 2021 – The number of fully vaccinated Croatians rose over 1 million. This means over 30% of adults in Croatia have received all the necessary doses of the vaccine.

The anti-COVID19 vaccination rush started a few months ago in Croatia. During winter some rather unpleasant truths surfaced as to how the distribution of vaccines among EU countries works. Along with the inability of AstraZeneca to deliver the vaccine in a timely manner, it seems Croatia was not getting its fair share of those that arrived in the EU, especially when compared to some richer countries of the union. The situation did change for the better. In the last few months, Croatian vaccination efforts have been progressing steadily.

Tportal.hr quoted Prime Minister Plenkovic's tweet from this morning in which he boasts good vaccination numbers. He announced Croatia surpassed one million fully vaccinated citizens. He also urged Croatians to continue with the positive trend and enter autumn and winter fully protected.

Promising Numbers

Official data by the Croatian Institute of Public Health say 1.020.266 persons are now fully vaccinated. Out of them, 1.000.279 have received both doses of Pfizer, Moderna, or AstraZeneca vaccines. 19.281 persons have received one (and only) dose of the Jannsen vaccine. If you think one million people is not a big number, you are forgetting the size of Croatia. These numbers mean 30,4% of the adult population of the country is now been fully vaccinated. This is not a bad result, especially when all the problems from the start of the vaccination process are considered.

Croatian Institute of Public Health is calling upon citizens to continue showing up for available vaccination appointments. They are also urging older citizens to show up a bit early and limit the amount of time they will have to wait in the heat. Bringing water, something to eat and preferably a sun umbrella is also a good idea.

As the fight against COVID19 continues, Croatians are hoping these numbers continue rising and the rest of the summer brings enough tourism revenue to ensure a more peaceful winter.

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ZAGREB, 10 January, 2021 - Sisak-Moslavina County has been given priority in the vaccination process and next week a complete shipment of Moderna's vaccine will be sent to the earthquake-hit county, Jutarnji List daily said on Sunday.

The number of coronavirus infections in Sisak-Moslavina County has jumped from 60 to 124 in the past two days. The increase has been expected as it was impossible to comply with epidemiological measures after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck the area on 29 December. The priority was to save human lives, clear the rubble and provide people with temporary accommodation.

It is still difficult to comply with epidemiological measures in that county due to a high fluctuation of people. That is why the county was given priority in the testing process and the ongoing coronavirus vaccination process.

"More than a thousand people were vaccinated in that county on Thursday alone. We are doing everything we can to keep the epidemiological situation under control. Also, we have sent large quantities of rapid antigen tests there. We have sent six teams to perform rapid antigen tests in the quake-hit area," the head of the Croatian Public Health Institute (HZJZ), Krunoslav Capak, told Jutarnji List.

He announced that a complete shipment of Moderna's vaccine would be sent to that county next week.

To date, 30,000 people have been vaccinated in Croatia, while 3,036 people were vaccinated in Sisak-Moslavina County alone by Friday night. A new shipment of 17,550 doses of the vaccine produced by Pfizer/BioNTech will arrive on Monday, and 4,000 doses of Moderna's vaccine will arrive on Tuesday.

"We have talked with the prime minister and I think that Moderna's entire shipment will go to Sisak-Moslavina County. A week later another 17,550 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and another 6,000 doses of Moderna's vaccine will arrive in Croatia," Capak said.

However, mass vaccination in Croatia will commence only after AstraZeneca registers its vaccine. The first shipment of that vaccine was supposed to arrive in EU countries, including Croatia, at the end of December, but the manufacturer is still waiting for approval from European regulators. According to unofficial information, the vaccine should be registered by the end of January, and when distribution begins, more than 200,000 doses should arrive in Croatia in their first shipment (of a total of 2.7 million that Croatia ordered from that manufacturer), Jutarnji List said.

January 7, 2021 - When can we expect the Moderna vaccine in Croatia? Croatian PM Andrej Plenkovic weighs in on its arrival and first doses. 

The Croatian Government held a new session at the National and University Library on Thursday where Prime Minister Andrej Plenković addressed the recent Petrinja earthquake and Moderna vaccine plan in Croatia, reports Jutarnji List.

"On Tuesday, we visited the heavily destroyed areas, and these larger cities in the SMŽ area and gained immediate insight. After the earthquake last night, 5 according to the Richter scale, all services were on the ground - the Civil Protection, the army, the police, the HGSS, and assistance was provided to the citizens by the Red Cross and numerous volunteers. The electricity is being repaired, the telephone signal is being spread in the area, the minister is in coordination with the mayors, and urgent procurement of alternative accommodation is being done.

There is a larger number of containers and houses; we will order more containers. The aim is to provide them as soon as possible. I thank Medved for arranging this, all of you who are engaged, all the volunteers. It is important that help and support are well-coordinated and channeled to those who need it most. I thank the engineers who are richer in their experience in Zagreb, now also in SMŽ. Thanks to the Red Cross, Caritas for all of their help in the earthquake-damaged areas," he said.

The Prime Minister also commented on the coronavirus and Moderna vaccine in Croatia.

"As far as COVID-19 is concerned, the EMA has approved the vaccine from the manufacturer Moderna, and Croatia has ordered practically a million doses from this manufacturer. The first Moderna vaccine should arrive in the Republic of Croatia on January 11, with about 4,000 doses. By the end of March, about 90,000 doses could arrive in the Republic of Croatia. Also good and important for us is that the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine has been sent for approval. There are indications that this vaccine could also be approved during January. For us, this is important because we have ordered 2.7 million doses from them, and if approved, they could get significantly larger quantities of vaccines by the beginning of spring. We will talk about that when the process is over."

The Prime Minister also discussed the events in Washington.

"We condemn the scenes and acts of violence that took place. It was clearly an attack on American democracy concerning election results. It is good that this calmed down in a few hours; we believe that everything will follow the Constitution and the law. An attempt that is by no means a good episode in the history of American democracy. I thank the American ambassador for his cooperation, everything that has been done to improve relations between Croatia and the United States, and I express my regret for these developments," said Plenković.

Illustration by Little Shiva

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