December the 17th, 2021 - A group of Sisak residents were left disgruntled and likely with weakened immune systems after attempting to do their civic duty and get vaccinated against the novel coronavirus but being told to go home after two hours standing in the cold and rain.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, a rather embarrassing situation occurred regarding vaccines for some Sisak residents recently when coronavirus vaccines ran out at one of the vaccination points on Saturday. This means that a good part of the people who came home for their second dose went home unvaccinated, as was told by an angry Sisak resident. The County Public Health Institute explained what happened.

Some people who came to get vaccinated at the mass vaccination point near in Sisak received a cold shower instead of their coronavirus vaccination. After more than two hours of waiting in the rain and cold, they were told the vaccine was gone.

"I was waiting for two hours only to finally come to the door and they tell me - there are no more vaccines. I didn't want to leave until they brought out a vaccine for me,'' a bitter young man from Sisak, who was supposed to receive his second dose on Saturday, told Dnevnik.hr. He arrived at the time he was given to come and be vaccinated, but it made no difference as he went home with still just the first dose having been injected.

"I told the lady who was vaccinating people there that they had written to me telling me to come that day. I had been waiting in the rain, wind and cold only to find out that there would be no vaccine. If I got my first dose on November the 13th, how can it be that ''my'' second dose wasn't waiting for me on the date they wrote down themselves? She told me it's not her fault, alright, but am I to blame either?'' asked this irritated Sisak local rhetorically.

Vaccination was eventually postponed

The epilogue of the story, says the young man, is that the vaccine for them will arrive - only next weekend.

"About ten of us are still standing here, I said to the epidemiologist - come on, here we are, just ten of us, write down our names, surnames and phone numbers and let us know when the vaccine comes for us. Tell these people to come at 08:00, 08:15 (it starts at nine otherwise) and we'll come. She said she can't do that. I said you see you can help us, but you don't want to. One of the people said the vaccine is coming on Wednesday, the other said they don't know if there will be a vaccine until Saturday,'' he concluded.

For more, check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

December the 13th, 2021 - Croatian vaccination tourism, which might sound quite amusing for many considering the relatively unimpressive vaccination rate of the domicile population, is going well for the nationals of the Russian federation who are arriving on special flights.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, among the countries chosen by the Russians in which to be vaccinated against the novel coronavirus is the Republic of Croatia, which fully enabled the vaccination of foreign, non resident nationals since mid-July. The media have already written about Russian citizens in queues at vaccination points, and the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) recently confirmed to Novi list that they are coming in an organised manner. Croatian vaccination tourism is actually very much a thing.

''This topic has been current for more than two months now and the CNTB Office is in constant contact with travel organisers, as well as a number of agencies and individual tourists who are interested in this form of tourism. These are mostly three-day arrangements, ie two nights, and in almost 95 percent of cases people are arriving in Zagreb. In Russia, the most active are the Russian Express and PAKS, which offer fully organised arrangements, but there are also a large number of agencies that organise these special tours to Croatia,'' they stated.

Tourists are offered plane tickets, hotel accommodation, excursions around Zagreb and its surroundings, as well as a tour of the Plitvice lakes, as well as various lunches and dinners in restaurants. Vaccination is usually done immediately on the first day or possibly the day after arrival. As the Russians mostly want to be vaccinated with Pfizer (Comirnaty), the vast majority return to Zagreb after three weeks to receive their second doses. By being vaccinated with an EU approved vaccine, these Russians can then get EU covid certificates.

In addition, at the end of December, Aeroflot will introduce daily direct flights to Zagreb, and Russian travel organisers will offer arrangements related to Advent and the New Year in Croatia, according to the CNTB. From other markets, they say, no increased interest is noticeable.

For more, check out our dedicated travel section.

November the 7th, 2021 - Sali is a beautiful place on a famously stunning island, Dugi otok. It once led in terms of coronavirus infections, which isn't exactly the best statistic, but now things have been turned on their heads and Sali is leading in terms of the vaccination rate.

As Morski writes, according to recent data published by the Croatian Institute of Public Health, one municipality in Zadar County is the absolute record holder in terms of the vaccination of its residents. In Sali on Dugi otok, a municipality with an official census of 1,900 people, 64.3 percent of them have already received both doses of the coronavirus vaccine.

At the beginning of the pandemic, it didn't look like that, quite the opposite in fact. After several group celebrations and one birthday, the infection rate escalated, and the number of those infected in Sali rose to as many as 39 in one single day. Every other house in Sali had its residents put into self-isolation back in those days, writes local portal Zadarski.hr.

In addition, they also had a priest, Tomislav Vlahovic, who preached from the altar that ''coronavirus doesn't exist and that true believers cannot be infected'', which is absolutely mind-boggling to say the least. He refused to listen to the instructions of the Archbishop and to implement the measures of the Civil Protection Directorate, and he encouraged others to follow his path. Some people unfortunately even listened to him. That's why just one year ago, the church choir became the second major focus in this small town.

''Coronavirus really went hard here in Sali, people saw first hand how dangerous and contagious it is. Then, when that first wave subsided, the tourist season came from which most of the islanders live, so then they started to act very responsibly. We were among the first to have a testing point on the island. Of the 500 tourists tested before leaving, none were positive. As for the islanders, ten days ago we had five to six cases a day, now that number is between two and three positive people. So, despite all these black statistics, the number of infected people in Sali is declining,'' said the mayor of Sali, Zoran Morovic, who personally, together with the local island Civil Protection Directorate and medical staff, got involved in the vaccination campaign.

An uncomfortable situation unfortunately unfolded when it seemed that the clinic in Zman could have been left without a doctor as the virus ran wild. Sali asked for help from the Institute of Public Health, which sent its team down and out into the field with the head of the epidemiological service, Dr. Alan Medic.

''They've been here six or seven times for the people on the island, especially at the time of the pandemic, and the availability of vaccines was crucial. We were all committed to their arrivals: we kept people informed, prepared lists so that by the time the team came to the island everything would be ready for vaccination to be carried out. I even transported the medical team in my car a couple of times from place to place, to make everything go smoothly. I have to tell you, it was with joy because the medical teams were great, everything was done really flawlessly. Whoever wanted to get vaccinated got vaccinated. And we all wanted to! It’s important to say that there weren’t any more severe cases among the younger people except for one guy who ended up needing oxygen. He wasn't vaccinated. But, he managed to pull himself out of it, it ended well,'' said Morovic for Zadarski.hr.

Bibinje is the worst...

Overall, the share of vaccinated people in Zadar County in any part of it is not lower than twenty percent. Vaccination of less than thirty percent has been recorded in Bibinje (with only 20.76 percent), followed by Obrovac, Stankovci, Policnik, Galovac, Sveti Filip i Jakov, Pakostane, Skabrnja, Sukosan and Polaca. Zadar is brighter orange on that map with 35.42 percent of the local population vaccinated.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to bookmark our dedicated section and select your preferred language if it isn't English.

October the 2nd, 2021 - First it was AstraZeneca, now it's Janssen. It seems that more or less each vaccine gets a round of worrying headlines printed about it from time to time, and each suspected case of a more serious side effect causes panic. A decision has now been made on the continued use of the single-dose Janssen vaccine in Croatia following some concerning issues.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Croatian Agency for Medicinal Products and Medical Devices reported that vaccination against the novel coronavirus with the single-dose Janssen vaccine (Johnson & Johnson) will continue as it has been in Croatia, because so far no reports of fatalities have been recorded in the country, while the benefits significantly outweigh any side effects.

A death report is currently being assessed in neighbouring Slovenia to determine whether there is a cause-and-effect relationship with the vaccine used, which hasn't yet been determined or confirmed.

HALMED states that no report of a suspected side effect with a fatal outcome for the Janssen vaccine has been received in the Republic of Croatia, and the most common side effects are mild to moderate, as they are with all of the vaccines produced so far.

A total of 144 reports of suspected side effects were received on a total of 93,240 doses of the Janssen vaccine in Croatia by the 29th of September, 2021.

The most commonly reported adverse reactions were mild to moderate in duration and lasted for several days and included a mild fever, headache, chills, muscle aches, pain at the injection site, fatigue, general weakness, weakness, back pain and limb pain. All of these are relatively common for all of the current coronavirus vaccines available, and pass quickly, sometimes in a matter of hours.

According to data collected from the European side effect database, EudraVigilance, about 15 million doses of the Janssen vaccine were received by people across the EU by the 30th of September, and they received 68 reports of suspected blood clot side effects combined with low platelet counts, of which 16 sadly came with a fatal outcome.

Blood clots are a very rare but possible side effect

The syndrome was identified by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) back in April this year as a very rare possible side effect of the vaccine and was included in the information on the product, according to HALMED.

They concluded that the benefit-risk balance of the Janssen vaccine remains unchanged and the benefits of being vaccinated with it to prevent the contraction of a more severe clinical picture of COVID-19 significantly outweighs the risk of possible side effects.

HALMED stated that all of the currently available vaccines are highly effective in protecting against the disease for which they are intended, as well as in preventing hospitalisations and deaths.

They note that HALMED and EMA will continue to monitor the safety of the Janssen vaccine in Croatia and elsewhere, as well as all other vaccines against novel virus, and will inform the public in a timely manner of any new findings.

It's worth noting that the Janssen vaccine, produced by Johnson & Johnson, is given in only one dose, making it a popular choice among many.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to bookmark our dedicated section and select your preferred language.

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 - 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.

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

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.

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

September the 6th, 2021 - Vaccinated Croatian communal company workers at one enterprise are set to be handed a 500 kuna award for having shown responsibility towards others by getting the vaccine.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, with the aim of preserving the health of Croatian communal company workers, the director of KD Autotrolej, Alberto Kontus, consulted with his Supervisory Board and all unions operating in the company and made a one-time cash award of 500 kuna possible for all workers who own a EU digital COVID certificate proving their status of vaccination or recovery from COVID-19.

As pointed out in the decision, the workers of KD Autotrolej, especially the drivers, have been working in difficult conditions almost constantly since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in the spring of 2020 and are directly exposed to the threat of the contraction and subsequent spread of COVID-19. However, the goal is also to protect the health of the users of the company's services, they pointed out from Autotrolej.

They emphasised, as Novi list writes, that the decision was made in order to obtain support for the preservation of jobs because the Government has adopted a measure by which the amount of support is conditioned by the percentage of vaccinated employees in any one company.

Under this measure, employers which have more than 70 percent of their workforce holding an EU digital COVID certificate or have acquired the conditions for obtaining a certificate are entitled to 100 percent support. If less than 70 percent of their workers are vaccinated, support may only be granted according to the percentage of workers who do or can own EU digital COVIDs.

''Autotrolej has already carried out the organised vaccination of workers on three occasions, and 35 to 40 percent of the total number of workers responded to the call. This is a low vaccination rate, which is directly related to the decision of the Government and subsidies for the preservation of jobs. Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic and the first lockdown, we've remained in operation, maintaining lines and transporting passengers, and no workers have been made redundant.'' they stated from this Croatian communal company.

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