ZAGREB, 8 Nov, 2021 - Croatia has logged 1,242 new COVID cases in the past 24 hours and 46 people have died as a consequence, the national COVID-19 response team reported on Monday.

There are currently 1,888 hospitalised patients, 246 of whom are on ventilators.

There are currently 29,265 active cases in the country and 24,255 people are self-isolating.

To date, a total of 3,184,660 tests have been conducted, including 3,703 in the past 24 hours.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, a total of 502,569 people have become infected with the novel coronavirus and 9,546 people have died as a consequence while 463,758 people have recovered, including 3,931 in the past 24 hours.

For more on COVID-19, follow TCN's dedicated page.

For more about Croatia, CLICK HERE.

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.

For more on politics, CLICK HERE.

ZAGREB, 4 Aug, 2021 - In the past 24 hours, 271 coronavirus cases have been registered in Croatia and there have been no deaths, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Wednesday.

The number of active cases is 1,147, including 153 hospitalised patients, 12 of whom are on ventilators, while 3,925 persons are self-isolating.

Croatia has registered 364,244 coronavirus cases to date, including 8,267 deaths and 354,830 recoveries, of which 135 in the past 24 hours.

To date, 2,324,297 persons have been tested for the virus, including 7,996 in the past 24 hours.

Croatia has vaccinated 40.7% of its population, including 49% of adults, 44.48% of whom have completed vaccination.

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

ZAGREB, 3 Aug, 2021 - Croatia has registered 186 new coronavirus cases and one COVID-19-related death in the last 24 hours, the national coronavirus response team said on Tuesday.

The number of active cases currently stands at 1011. Of them, 149 people are receiving hospital treatment, including 11 on ventilators.

Since the outbreak of the epidemic in the country in late February 2020, a total of 363,973 people have been registered as having contracted the virus, of whom 8,267 have died and 354,695 have recovered, including 127 in the last 24 hours.

Currently 4,114 people are self-isolating.

A total of 2,316,301 people have been tested to date, including 7,341 in the last 24 hours. 

By 2 August, 3,091,467 doses of vaccine had been administered, with 40.7 percent of the total population and 48.9 percent of the adult population having been vaccinated.

A total of 1,650,326 people have been vaccinated with at least one dose, while 1,493,859 people, or 44.33 percent of the adult population, have been fully vaccinated.

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

ZAGREB, 28 July, 2021 - In the past 24 hours Croatia has registered 198 new cases of coronavirus and two people have died as a consequence amid 1,042 active cases, the national COVID response team reported on Wednesday.

There are currently 143 hospitalised patients and 11 of them are on ventilators.

A total of 146 people have recovered over the past 24 hours and 3,267 people are currently self-isolating.

Since 25 February 2020, when the first case of the contagion was identified in Croatia, there have been a total of 363,039 people infected with the novel coronavirus, of whom 8,249 people have died and 353,748 have recovered, 125 of them in the past 24 hours.

To date, a total of 2,281,574 tests have been conducted, including 6,141 taken in the past 24 hours.

By 27 July, a total of 3,031,563  doses of vaccines had been administered, with 40.1% of the total population or 48.2% of the adult population having been inoculated.

Altogether, 1,628,084 people have received at least one vaccine dose, of whom 1,450,537 have been fully inoculated (1,403,476 persons have received two doses and 47,058 have received the single-dose Jannsen vaccine), which makes up 43.05% of the adult population.

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

ZAGREB, 27 July, 2021 - Croatia has registered 193 new coronavirus cases and no COVID-related deaths in the last 24 hours, the national coronavirus response team said on Tuesday.

The number of active cases currently stands at 971. This includes 143 people who are receiving hospital treatment, 13 of whom are on ventilators. A total of 3,267 people are in self-isolation.

Since late February 2020, when the first case was confirmed in Croatia, 362,841 people have been registered as having contracted the novel virus, of whom 8,247 have died and 353,623 have recovered, including 146 in the last 24 hours.

A total of 2,275,433 people have been tested for coronavirus to date, including 7,393 in the last 24 hours.

By 26 July, 3,018,451 doses of vaccine against COVID-19 had been administered, with 40 percent of the total population and 48.1 percent of the adult population having been vaccinated. A total of 1,623,475 people have been vaccinated with at least one dose and 1,440,370 of them have been fully vaccinated (1,394,976 have received two doses and 45,394 have been inoculated with the single-dose Jannsen vaccine), which makes up 42.76 percent of the adult population.

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

July 22, 2021 - With the overall struggle to get Croatians to take the coronavirus vaccine, it is often overlooked regarding Roma people COVID-19 vaccination in Croatia.

Despite coronavirus infections being low at the moment, the situation is tense. On July 5, as TCN reported, only 35% of the Croatian population was vaccinated as the Delta strain spreads globally and in the country.

"Unfortunately, we aren't satisfied with the percentage of vaccinated people we hoped to have. We all wanted to vaccinate more than 50 percent of the total Croatian population during June, but sadly our numbers in that regard are much lower. Only about 35 percent of the total Croatian population has been vaccinated, which isn't enough for them to be calm and to be able to live according to the old normal,'' said epidemiologist Dijana Mayer back then. This was punished with the Croatian coast no longer being in the green, and without bigger vaccination interest, things can turn red. As TCN wrote, there are 5-6 Positive Cases at Split Airport every day, and new measures are introduced to British tourists as the Delta strain is booming there (but in a less fatal manner because of vaccines). Stricter measures, in general, can be excepted by the end of the month in Croatia too.

Fortunately, things got better in July. As reported on Wednesday, „Croatia administered nearly three million vaccine doses. Thus, 1.6 million people have received at least one dose of vaccines against COVID-19, and 1,388,674 have fully been vaccinated (1,349,652 have been double-jabbed plus 39,022 who have received a single-dose Jannsen vaccine), and this makes up 41.24% of the adult population“.

But, disinformation about COVID-19 vaccines is vividly spread (just as disinformation about COVID-19), leaving Croatian fact-checking site Faktograf knee-deep in debunking work. Many Croatians sadly believe the fake news of the anti-vaxxers, and the situation culminated to the point where the Croatian officials (as officials in many other EU countries that also struggle with anti-vax propaganda) seriously discuss obligatory vaccination. Will it happen? Some politicians are up for it, others no, but overall, the situation is uncertain as the fourth infection wave approaches, and the season could potentially be in jeopardy in mid-August, as 24 Sata writes.

COVID-19 vaccine © Pixabay

In summary, there are currently more vaccines in Croatia than there are people interested in. It's hard to believe how things progressed from the start of the year when we witnessed a delay in vaccine shipments, outrage by the public when people such as Zagreb University Rector Damir Boras received the vaccine ahead of time and schedule. From the malfunctioning Cijepi se (Vaccinate yourself) website where you had to register for an appointment (which took forever to get) to a family doctor being able to sign you up, all the way to be able to take a shot without an appointment today, vaccines truly became accessible for everyone. There were even buses bringing vaccines and performing vaccinations in remote villages. So vaccines are for everyone to take, but is it really so?

Nothing in the world is perfect, and neither is Croatia. From time to time, we can see that some groups in Croatian society do get discriminated against or suffer negative stereotypes. For example, with significant progress in accepting the LGBTQ community, sadly homophobic attacks still happen. The tensions with the Serbian minority vary from the day-to-day political agenda, but it is safe to say no one has it worse than the Roma people in Croatia.

As TCN previously wrote, following the 2020 report by Human Rights House in Zagreb, Roma people in Croatia are still facing many obstacles in achieving their rights, which include employment, access to services, and adequate living standards, and there is still segregation in the education system too. Either perceived as thieves, criminals, beggars or completely ignored in Croatia, the question of how many Roma people in Croatia received the vaccine and how many Roma people want the vaccine in the first place, can't be left aside, as it shows how much the vaccine rollout truly is fair for every citizen in the country.

Disinformation crippled 80% of those willing to get the vaccine

Veljko Kajtazi, a member of the Croatian parliament, elected as a representative of the Roma community, says that official research of percentage of vaccinated Roma people hasn't been conducted, but he frequently goes „to the field“, and sees that the situation isn't good.

„If 45% of the Croatian population is vaccinated, I can say that Roma people are a very small percentage of that number“, commented Kajtazi, then on a relevant number of vaccinated people.

He supports the talk of obligatory vaccines and finds disinformation and fake news regarding vaccines to be the cause of low interest.

Veljko Kajtazi, screenshot / Hrvatska radiotelevizija

„Roma people have a very social culture, love gatherings, and live in big families. When the pandemic started, I cooperated with authorities in ensuring that social distancing measures are respected in Roma settlements and that we educate people on the dangers of coronavirus“, recalled Kajtazi.

While Roma people can be found living anywhere, the majority is often ghettoized. An example is in Zagreb, where the Kozari Bok neighborhood on the east side of the city is famous for its big Roma population. When looking outside of the capital city, there are many Roma villages and settlements which count more people than other Croatian villages.

One such place is Piškorovec in Međimurje, which the Lupiga news site referred to as „the biggest Croatian ghetto“. Their article detailed both living in Piškorovec and tensions with the nearby town of Čakovec underlining incidents and division between Roma and Croatians (as Roma People are often perceived as thieves or beggars).

„Last year 80% of Roma people wanted to take the vaccine, but today, they are scared and believe various conspiracy theories. People are not informed, and social networks spread so much disinformation“, Kajtazi pictured how wishing for a vaccine turned sideways.

In the end, he added that he is regularly in contact with the government and institutions to provide information on vaccines to the community. Katja also hopes the vaccine buses will come to Roma villages too.

Questions for HZJZ

The lack of information, geographical isolation, and the overall achievement of social rights (such as health insurance) like other Croatian citizens that the Human Rights House in Zagreb expressed in their report left a lot of open questions regarding Roma people vaccination. Particularly, are there any statistics on how many people vaccinated that the health officials might have, what is the mood towards vaccines in Roma communities in their view, and can buses come to isolated areas to vaccinate Roma people? The inquiry was sent to the Health Ministry and to the Croatian Public Health Institute (HZJZ). Health Ministry very quickly forwarded the inquiry to the Croatian Public Health Institute (HZJZ) as these questions are part of their domain. The health ministry even forwarded the questions directly to the HZJZ headmaster Krunoslav Capak himself and other close associates on e-mail addresses not visible on the HZJZ website. But, HZJZ hasn't responded yet. Whether I tried to remind them and ask when can they answer via e-mail or phone calls, none left a response (although a phone call with HZJZ PR service confirmed there are experts in HZJZ that deal with the health of vulnerable social groups, which includes Roma People).

When the answer that can be expected for the moment remains unknown, but TCN will publish HZJZ's response when we receive it.

In the meantime, as we can see, despite vaccine skepticism being strong, there is nevertheless a slow but steady daily rise of vaccinated people in Croatia. 

Let's hope for the sake of public health that disinformation and fake news that turn people away from the vaccines will lower its influence on all the cultural groups and identities you can find in Croatia.

Editor's note: HZJZ response

Learn more about travelling to Croatia during the COVID-19 pandemic on our TC page.

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

ZAGREB, 14 July, 2021 - In the past 24 hours, there have been 155 new cases of coronavirus in Croatia and two people have died, the national COVID response team said on Wednesday.

Currently, there are 595 active cases in the country, including 111 hospitalised patients of whom 8 are on ventilators.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic in Croatia on 25 February 2020, there have been 361,079 people infected with the virus, of whom 8,233 have died and 352,251 have recovered, including 54 in the past 24 hours.

Currently, there are 3,939 people in self-isolation.

A total of 2,201,991 people have been tested to date, with 3,965 tests conducted in the past 24 hours.

As of 13 July, a total of 2,848,709 doses of vaccines have been administered and 38.5% of the population has been inoculated or 46.3% of adults. 

A total of 1,562,081 people have received at least one dose and 1,317,827 have received both shots.

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

ZAGREB, 13 July, 2021 - In the past 24 hours, 83 coronavirus cases and two deaths have been registered in Croatia, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Tuesday.

There are 496 active cases, including 106 hospitalised patients, nine of whom are on ventilators, while 3,969 persons are self-isolating.

Croatia has registered 360,924 coronavirus cases to date, 8,231 COVID deaths and 352,197 persons who have recovered from the disease, including 96 in the past 24 hours.

To date, 2,198,026 persons have been tested for the virus, including 4,577 in the past 24 hours.

Also, 2,833,080 vaccines have been administered, with 38.4% of the total and 46.3% of the adult population immunised - 1,557,706 persons have received at least one dose, including 1,275,374 that have received both and 30,131 that have received the Janssen vaccine, which requires only one dose.

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

ZAGREB, 6 July, 2021 - In the last 24 hours, of 5,103 tests performed for coronavirus in Croatia,  1.9%, that is 96, have turned out to be positive, the national COVID-19 crisis management team stated on Tuesday.

Currently, there are 528 active cases, including 132 hospitalised patients, of whom 10 are placed on ventilators.

In the last 24 hours, the COVID-related death toll has risen by two to 8,221.

Since the first registered case of the infection with this novel virus in Croatia on 25 February 2020, as many as 2,171,883 tests have been performed showing that 360,342 people have contracted the virus. Of them, 351,593 have recovered so far, including 65 recoveries in the last 24 hours.

The Croatian Public Health Institute (HZJZ) reported on Tuesday that 37.3% of the total population or 45% of the adult population had been vaccinated to date.

A total of 2,687,515 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered to date.

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