ZAGREB, 29 Oct 2021 - Health Minister Vili Beroš said on Friday a decision was made under which family doctors would contact their patients over 65 in the next fortnight about getting vaccinated because 31.3% of people in that age group have not been vaccinated against COVID.

The most vulnerable persons, those over 65, are the priority in protection from COVID, he said at a press conference of the national COVID-19 crisis management team, adding that 40% of those over 80 have not been vaccinated either.

If doctors fail to contact their patients over 65 in the next fortnight, they should visit them at home, or have a district nurse do so, in the next 30 days, and then report to the ministry about what they have achieved. Those infirm should be vaccinated at home.

Beroš appealed to the elderly to get vaccinated. "Vaccination saves lives and it is our obligation to enable it."

He said 97 of the 177 persons over 65 who died of COVID this past week had not been vaccinated.

However, he said, interest in vaccination is growing and almost 6,000 of the 13,292 vaccinated yesterday received their first shot, the highest number since late July. Week on week it was an increase of 34.5%, and of 51.8% when compared with two weeks ago.

Croatian Institute of Public Health director Krunoslav Capak said there were 48.8% more new cases today than a week ago.

In the past 24 hours, 26 of the 32 COVID patients who ended up on ventilators and 20 of the 26 who died were not vaccinated.

The head of Zagreb's infectious diseases hospital, Alemka Markotić, told women who planned to get pregnant to get vaccinated or to do so after giving birth.

COVID certificates can't replace vaccination

Asked why COVID certificates were not required more widely, the head of the crisis management team, Interior Minister Davor Božinović, said the certificates offered a certain security but could not be a replacement for vaccination, adding that only vaccination could result in the pandemic abating.

"We are trying to do our best to have people vaccinated. We are thinking more and more about not limiting COVID certificates only to those vaccinated. We will also look at when they were vaccinated."

No one is considering another lockdown, but citizens must understand that this is a situation we will not get rid off anytime soon, Božinović said.

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ZAGREB, 22 Oct 2021 - European Health and Food Safety Commissioner Stella Kyriakides visited a COVID-19 vaccination point in Zagreb on Friday with Health Minister Vili Beroš, telling Croatian citizens to get vaccinated and listen to scientists' messages, not messages on social media.

Get vaccinated to protect yourselves, your fellow citizens and so that hospitals are not full of patients again. That's a very clear message, based on science and the reality we know. Listen to scientists, not experts on social media, Kyriakides said.

We are not in the same situation as in 2020. Today we have a safe and effective vaccine which was approved for use in the EU. We have enough vaccines, but we must go forward. We don't want to have a pandemic of the unvaccinated, she added.

Croatia has vaccinated about 55% of its adult population against coronavirus. It must accelerate it because in the EU we have more than 75% of the population fully vaccinated. That's why it's necessary to accelerate vaccination as much as possible so that we don't have areas in the EU that are still unprotected, she said.

Minister Beroš commented on a letter by five members of the government's Scientific Council who distanced themselves from statements made by Council member Gordan Lauc.

He said that when members of a scientific forum individually commented on "expertly established facts" on social media, contrary to the forum's clearly stated views, such commenting "is damaging."

Beroš added that he said yesterday all he had to say about Lauc and the Council and that, as far as he knew, most Council members wanted to continue to be part in it.

They don't intend to leave the Council as that would send a bad message of inconsistency, he added.

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ZAGREB, 29 Sept, 2021 - Croatia has registered 1,911 new coronavirus cases and 14 COVID-19-related deaths in the last 24 hours, the national coronavirus response team reported on Wednesday.

The number of active cases now stands at 8,101, and 745 infected persons are receiving hospital treatment, including 99 who are on ventilators.

Since 25 February 2020, when the first case was confirmed in Croatia, 403,080 people have been registered as having contracted the novel virus, of whom 8,628 have died and 386,351 have recovered, including 896 in the last 24 hours. 21,164 people are currently self-isolating.

To date, 2,813,356 people have been tested for the virus, including 10,148 in the last 24 hours.

A total of 3,419,381 doses of vaccines have been administered, with 44.66 percent of the total population, or 53.59 percent of adults, having been vaccinated. 1,812,532 people have received at least one dose and 1,700,089 have been fully vaccinated (1,606,849 people have received two vaccine doses and 93,240 have received the single-dose Jannsen vaccine), which makes up 50.34 percent of the adult population.

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

ZAGREB, 28 Sept, 2021 - The Croatian Chamber of Nurses (HKMS) has distanced itself from unscientific and unprofessional views on vaccination against COVID-19, spread by some of the nurses.

"A large number of nurses have been vaccinated, notably 72 percent of them, and the Chamber once again calls on all nurses to get vaccinated and thus protect their health and the health of their patients," the HKMS said in a statement on Tuesday.

The dissemination of untrue and scientifically uncorroborated information, especially when it comes from nurses, makes the fight against the epidemic and efforts to increase the vaccination rate difficult and undermines trust in the healthcare system, it added.

The HKMS stressed the importance of vaccination as the only effective way to overcome the epidemic and get life back to normal.

Many of our nurse colleagues treat hospitalised patients for serious forms of COVID-19 and many of them see their patients, most of whom have not been vaccinated, die, the HKMS said, reminding nurses that "nursing is a medical profession and our public discourse must be based on the results of medical science."

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ZAGREB, 28 Sept, 2021 - In the last 24 hours Croatia has conducted 9,257 coronavirus tests, and 1,061 of them, (11.5%) have returned positive, whereas eight more COVID patients have died, raising the COVID-19 death toll to 8,614, the national COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Tuesday.

There are currently 7,100 active cases, and of them 738 are receiving hospital treatment including 102 patients placed on ventilators.

Since the first registered case of the infection with the novel virus in Croatia in late February 2020, the country has conducted over 2.8 million tests that have shown that 401,169 people have contracted the virus, and of them 385,455 have recovered, including 1,098 recoveries in the last 24 hours.

As many as 22,467 people are self-isolating.

To date, over 3.4 million vaccine doses have been administered, and 44.46% of the total population or 53.48% of the adult population have been vaccinated.

Every second adult Croat has fully been inoculated to date.

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

ZAGREB, 15 Sept, 2021 - Croatia reported a surge in the daily number of coronavirus cases on Wednesday as 1,835 new cases had been registered in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of active cases to 7,037.

Among those infected are 603 people who are hospitalised and 64 of them are on ventilators. Seven people have died in the past 24 hours.

Health Minister Vili Beroš told Parliament that Croatia was at the beginning of the fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Today's 1,835 new infections are indeed a warning. Seven of the infected persons have died and only one of them was vaccinated. The healthcare system will be ready, but the question is whether society will be ready because not enough people have been vaccinated," Beroš said.

A similar number of cases were registered on 30 November 2020, when as many as 73 people died, and on 26 March 2021, when 16 people died.

Since 25 February 2020, when the first case was reported in Croatia, 386, 891 people have been registered as having contracted the novel virus, of whom 8,463 have died and 371,391 have recovered, including 609 in the past 24 hours. A total of 14,799 people are currently in self-isolation.

To date, 2,684,626 people have been tested for COVID-19, including 11,550 in the past 24 hours. A total of 3,341,864 doses of vaccines have been administered, with 43.53 percent of the total population or 52.26 percent of the adult population having been vaccinated. 1,766,447 people have received at least one dose and 1,655,970 of them have been fully vaccinated.

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

ZAGREB, 14 Sept, 2021 - Over the past 24 hours, Croatia has registered 974 new COVID-19 cases and there have been nine related deaths, while the number of active cases stands at 5,818, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Tuesday.

There are 600 hospitalised patients, 59 of whom are on ventilators, while 679 people have recovered.

In the last 24 hours, 10,228 people have been tested, and there are currently 13,394 people in self-isolation.

To date, 43.44% of the total population, or 52.15% of the adult population have got vaccinated.

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ZAGREB, 7 Sept, 2021 - In the past 24 hours, 704 coronavirus cases and 10 deaths have been registered in Croatia, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Tuesday.

There are currently 4,199 active cases, including 518 patients who are hospitalised, of whom 57 are on ventilators.

Currently 8,862 persons are self-isolating.

Croatia has registered 378,726 coronavirus cases to date, including 8,385 deaths and 366,142 recoveries, of which 527 in the past 24 hours.

To date, 2,607,201 persons have been tested for the virus, including 10,077 in the past 24 hours.

To date, 42.98% of the total population has been vaccinated against COVID-19, including 51.61% of adults, 48.40% of whom have completed vaccination.

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ZAGREB, 25 Aug, 2021 - In the past 24 hours, 677 coronavirus cases and four COVID-related deaths have been registered in Croatia, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Wednesday.

The number of active cases is 2,951 and there are 356 hospitalised patients, including 46 on ventilators, while 6,858 persons are self-isolating.

To date, 2,490,899 tests for the virus have been conducted, including 10,453 in the last 24 hours when the share of positive tests was 6.5%.

To date, 3,227,814 vaccine doses have been administered, with 41.99% of the population having been vaccinated, including 50.45% of adults.

One dose has been administered to 1,703,929 persons while 1,589,077 persons have been fully vaccinated -- 1,523,885 have received both doses and 65,192 have received the single-dose Janssen vaccine -- which is 47.1% of the adult population.

To date, Croatia has registered 370,985 coronavirus cases and 8,310 deaths, while 359,724 persons have recovered from COVID-19, including 282 in the past 24 hours.

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ZAGREB, 24 Aug, 2021 - In the past 24 hours, 470 coronavirus cases and three related deaths have been registered in Croatia, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Tuesday.

The number of active cases is 2,560 and there are 330 hospitalised patients, including 44 on ventilators, while 6,961 persons are self-isolating.

To date, Croatia has registered 370,308 coronavirus cases and 8,306 deaths, while 359,442 persons have recovered from COVID-19, including 343 in the past 24 hours.

To date, 2,480,446 persons have been tested for the virus, including 9,989 in the last 24 hours.

To date, 3,219,595 vaccine doses have been administered, with 41.9% of the population having been vaccinated, including 50.35% of adults.

One dose has been administered to 1,700,378 persons while 1,583,703 persons have been fully vaccinated -- 1,519,217 have received both doses and 64,486 have received the single-dose Janssen vaccine -- which is 46.95% of the adult population.

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