ZAGREB, 20 May 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Thursday that Pfizer would produce materials for its COVID-19 vaccine in its pharmaceutical plant in Savski Marof outside Zagreb, which would put Croatia into the group of European countries that manufacture ingredients of certain vaccines.

Plenković informed his cabinet today that he had discussed this matter with Pfizer's chairman and chief executive officer Albert Bourla on Wednesday.

The Savski Marof plant will produce the DNA template for the COVID-19 vaccine. This is an investment of $10 million, and will create jobs for about 30 people.

Plenković recalled that the European Commission had announced that an agreement had been reached with Pfizer on the delivery of 900 million doses of the vaccine against COVID-19 plus an additional 900 million, which means 1.8 billion doses from December 2021 to 2023.

He underscored the fact that in Croatia one in three adults had already received at least one shot of the vaccine against coronavirus infection.

The target is to have at least 50%-55% of the adult population vaccinated by the end of June.

Plenković also informed the cabinet about the Defence Council meeting on the procurement of multipurpose fighter jets. The Council convened on Thursday morning.

He reiterated that providing the armed forces with such aircraft would be "the greatest and the most important procurement for the armed forces."

The procurement will make Croatia an important and credible ally within NATO and will enable the Croatian armed forces to participate in various international missions at a completely different level, he added.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, including travel, border, and quarantine rules, as well as the locations of vaccination points and testing centers up and down the country, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and choose your preferred language.

ZAGREB, 20 May 2021 - As of today, every third adult in Croatia has been vaccinated against COVID-19, the Croatian Public Health Institute (HZJZ) said on Thursday.

On Wednesday, 19 May, 43,890 doses of the vaccine were used, and the number of persons that have received at least one dose reached 1,109,161, which is 27% of the population or 33% of the adult population, while 341,008 persons have received both doses.

According to data from the eCijepih platform, as of 20 May, every third adult in Croatia has been vaccinated, which is a big step forward compared to early May, when on 1 May every fifth adult citizen of Croatia had been vaccinated, the HZJZ said.

First dose vaccine coverage is highest in Zagreb, 31% of the total population or 37.6% of the adult population, and second dose vaccine coverage is highest in Sisak-Moslavina County, 12% of the population or 14.4% of adults.

"These are encouraging data that give us reason for optimism when it comes to meeting the goal of vaccinating over a half of Croatia's adult population by the end of June. Vaccination is going according to plan, the epidemiological situation is better than in previous weeks and this is certainly good news, especially in the context of the upcoming tourist season," said HZJZ deputy director Ivana Pavić Šimetin.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, including travel, border and quarantine rules, as well as the locations of vaccination points and testing centres up and down the country, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and choose your preferred language.

May 5, 2021 - People in Zagreb are getting their vaccines against the novel coronavirus, and the ‘‘Dr. Andrija Štampar’’ Institute has some vaccine information for them.

The vaccination process is continuing across all regions of Croatia to combat the novel coronavirus, even after a few weeks of uncertainty marked by problems with the vaccination portal cijepi.se. One of the vaccination points in the capital is at the Zagreb Fair, and those in charge have vaccine information about both doses for those who attend this vaccination point.

According to Our World in Data, as of 4 May, 944,398 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Croatia, with 734,556 people receiving the first dose and 209,842 receiving both doses.

As reported by tportal.hr, the "Dr. Andrija Štampar" Institute wants to inform all citizens of the City of Zagreb who have been vaccinated with the first dose at the vaccination point at the Zagreb Fair that they have been referred for vaccination with the second dose. The term of vaccination with the second dose was defined in accordance with the recommendations of the Croatian Institute of Public Health.

Citizens can check the exact date for their second dose of vaccination at the Fair via the e-Citizens system, by calling the toll-free number 0800 8804 or via their selected family doctor (GP).

The "Dr. Andrija Štampar" Institute has also noted that the second dose of vaccination at the vaccination point at the Zagreb Fair is being organised exclusively for people who have already received their first dose of vaccine at that point. People without an referral term will not be vaccinated there due to limited organisational capacity.

In addition, "Stampar" has asked citizens to strictly adhere to the referral deadlines in order to avoid unnecessary crowds and for the purpose of more consistent adherence to epidemiological measures and recommendations.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, including travel, border and quarantine rules, as well as the locations of vaccination points and testing centres across the country, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section.

ZAGREB, 16 April, 2021 - Croatia can expect the delivery of 1.8 million Pfizer doses against coronavirus and the inoculation of 55% of the population against this infectious disease until 1 July, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Friday.

Representatives of the team said at a news conference that Croatia has registered a 32% weekly rise in new cases, and that the share of positive tests was 29.2% on Friday.

In terms of the incidence rate, Croatia  currently ranks 21st in the European Union and in the terms of the death rate, it ranks 17th, Croatia's chief epidemiologist Krunoslav Capak told the news conference.

"Pfizer has ramped up its delivery of vaccines for us. We Will have received a total of 1.805 million doses of this vaccine by the end of June," Capak said adding that he expected more than half of the population to get COVID shots before 1 July.

The head of the Zagreb-based Fran Mihaljević hospital for infectious diseases, Alemka Markotić called for additional caution before people get vaccinated.

"It would be a pity to develop serious symptoms of this disease now when we can be vaccinated soon," she said.

She said that the British variant of the novel virus was currently dominant in the European Union.

Markotić said that her hospital has been full with patients for days and that she was particularly concerned with the difficult condition of patients aged between 25 and 40.

Health Minister Vili Beroš reassured the general public that there would be enough vaccines for everyone who wishes to be immunised against this infectious disease.

Beroš dismissed accusations from some media outlets and Opposition lawmakers that the Cuspis company, which is allegedly owned by a family friend, had been favoured by the Health Ministry in the task to design the Cijepise (Get Vaccinated) platform.

Beroš said that all data concerning this issue were available on the ministry's website.

Beroš went on to say that the company had been hired by the ministry for some other tasks before he became an assistant minster and before his ministerial term.

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ZAGREB, 14 April, 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Wednesday that the European Commission in cooperation with the EU member-states was trying to ramp up the deliveries of Pfizer COVID vaccines in the second quarter of 2021.

Plenković informed his cabinet that earlier in the day he had talked with the EC President Ursula von der Leyen and that she informed him of the plans about a faster Pfizer COVID vaccine rollout in the second quarter of 2021.

The relevant information will soon be discussed by other relevant bodies.

Plenković called on the Croatians to comply with anti-epidemic measures and to behave responsibly.

He warned that for eight consecutive weeks, Croatia had been registering a rise in the number of confirmed infections with the novel coronavirus and in the number of related deaths.

We are trying to catch up with the inoculation rate and curb the spread of the virus, he added.

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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

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