July the 26th, 2021 - With the tourist season in full swing and hopes for a longer summer season than last year high, the vaccination programme is still going full steam ahead. With some growing pains which caused issues at the beginning and still not enough people vaccinated with at least one dose, Zagreb is leading in terms of Croatian vaccinations.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, on Saturday, July the 24th, the number of total doses of administered vaccines against the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, reached 3,005,376, reports the Croatian Institute of Public Health.

A total of 1,620,106 Croatian residents have now been vaccinated with their first dose of the vaccine, of which 1,385,270 have been vaccinated with two doses, while the Croatian vaccination (full vaccination) was completed for 1,429,990 persons (with two doses and 44,720 doses of Janssen, which are single dose vaccines), added the Croatian Institute of Public Health in new statement.

“Even after consuming more than three million doses of the vaccine, HALMED has not received a single report of a suspected fatal side effect that has been found to be even causally related to vaccination. Of the 4435 reports of suspected adverse reactions received, the most commonly reported adverse reactions were fever, headache, muscle aches, chills, general feelings of weakness, fatigue, redness at the vaccine site, nausea and some joint pain. These are the expected side effects,'' stated the CNIPH head, epidemiologist Krunoslav Capak.

The highest coverage of those vaccinated with the first dose was achieved in the City of Zagreb (46.1 percent of the total population, ie 55.8 percent of the adult population), and the highest coverage of the completed vaccination processes was also achieved in the City of Zagreb (40.4 percent of the total population, ie 48.9 percent of the capital's adult population).

For more on Croatian vaccinations and coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and choose your preferred language.

ZAGREB, 21 July, 2021 - In the last 24 hours, of 4,205  tests performed for coronavirus, 4.5%, that is 191 have turned out to be positive, Croatia's national COVID-19 crisis management team reported on Wednesday.

Currently, there are 838 active cases, of whom 122 are hospitalised patients including 13 placed on ventilators. Also, 3,409 people are self-isolating.

In the last 24 hours, there has been one more COVID-related death, bringing the death toll to 8,244.

Since the first registered case of the infection with this novel virus in Croatia on 25 February 2020, as many as 2.2 million tests have been conducted, showing that 361,950 people have caught the virus. Of them, 352,868 have recovered to date, including 91 recoveries in the last 24 hours.

Vaccine roll-out developments

Croatia has to date 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.

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

ZAGREB, 20 July, 2021 - In the past 24 hours, 146 coronavirus cases and three deaths have been registered in Croatia, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Monday.

There are 739 active cases, including 121 hospitalised patients, 11 of whom are on ventilators, while 3,573 persons are self-isolating.

To date, Croatia has registered 361,759 coronavirus cases, including 8,243 deaths and 325,777 recoveries, 89 of which in the past 24 hours.

To date, Croatia has tested 2,223,324 persons for the virus, including 4,612 in the past 24 hours.

Also, 2,930,768 vaccines have been administered and 39.3% of the population has been vaccinated, including 47.2% of the adult population.

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

ZAGREB, 8 July 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Thursday there was a certain increase in the number of people vaccinated against COVID-19 with the first dose, including 8,000 yesterday, which he said was encouraging.

"It's evident that our topics from the last government session have encouraged a certain number of our fellow citizens to be vaccinated," he said at a cabinet meeting, a week after he said that the government would make job-keeping payments conditional on worker vaccination.

Any minority should feel safe and free

Plenković also said that "members of minorities, any minority, sexual, ethnic, should feel safe and free."

He added that some politicians in Croatia still did not realize that minority rights were not a privilege but a guarantee of equality.

"In Croatia, minority rights are a constitutional and legal category, and I insist that they are not to be tolerated but honored," Plenković said, adding that he considered attacks on the LGBT community a hate crime. "We don't want that, we don't agree with that."

He also condemned the hate leveled at MPs of the Bridge party, saying it was unacceptable.

For more about politics in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page

July the 3rd, 2021 - Vaccination against the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, although not mandatory, might well be required before companies can receive Croatian economic aid if it can be implemented constitutionally.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic stated that he thinks it would be fair that in a time of crisis, when the state provides vaccines and salaries for the normal functioning of the entire system, for everyone to make some form of small contribution to the effort.

"If someone is going to be a beneficiary of the Croatian economic aid, let's say job preservation support, then it would be good for them to be vaccinated,'' said the Prime Minister, but without adding further details on just how government economic support will be linked to vaccination.

The ministers of labour and health, Josip Aladrovic and Vili Beros, have now been tasked with specifying measures to be taken by the Croatian Employment Service to link the two processes.

For the moment, this is just an idea announced by the Croatian Government, it's possible that it will be legally and constitutionally difficult to implement, and for now it looks like pressure to workers in those sectors which had to be closed during lockdown, to get vaccinated. However, the Prime Minister said recently that a solution would be sought that would be legal and constitutional, Jutarnji list writes.

"We can't have unlimited government economic measures because the whole of Europe is moving in the direction of job creation, but there are still sectors, such as the catering and hospitality sector, which has partial restrictions, and those that have no restrictions, but are affected because they're objectively disabled, such as transport, tourism, the event industry. Our task now is to engage in dialogue with employers and move on to tailored sectoral measures. So, it isn't just going to be towards everyone as it was before,'' the Prime Minister explained after a recently held Government session.

Until the end of the year, the measure of reduced working hours is set to remain in force. Plenkovic noted that in agreement with the representatives of employers, trends will be monitored and responded to in time if necessary, which will keep pace with active employment policy measures, and in which more than a billion kuna will be invested this year.

Recently, the government also adopted a support programme for vulnerable activities in the sectors of transport, tourism, culture and the event industry. It is actually a reimbursement of fixed costs that these activities didn't have before because they weren't formally closed by the decision of the National Civil Protection Directorate, but suffered heavy losses regardless.

The grants are worth a total of 150 million kuna, and the amount is provided by the budget revision. Those who have recorded a drop in revenue of at least 75 percent compared to 2019 will be able to apply for this form government economic support. In the transport sector, fixed costs will be reimbursed to companies for land and sea passenger transport, as well as to travel agencies and tour operators related to nautical transport. In the tourism sector, the support refers to travel agencies, up to a maximum of 10,000 kuna per worker.

In the event industry sector, companies that organise festivals, concerts and similar cultural and artistic events, as well as events intended for professionals in the field of cultural and creative industries, are eligible, Jutarnji list has learned.

For more, follow our business section.

ZAGREB, 30 June, 2021 - In the past 24 hours, 136 coronavirus cases and one death have been registered in Croatia, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Wednesday.

There are 496 active cases, including 159 hospitalised patients, 12 of whom are on ventilators, while 3,475 persons are self-isolating.

Croatia has registered 359,872 coronavirus cases to date, including 8,206 deaths and 351,170 recoveries, 57 of which in the past 24 hours.

To date, 2,148,554 persons have been tested for the virus, including 4,954 in the past 24 hours, and 2,573,481 vaccines have been administered, with 1,488,707 persons having received one and 1,084,774 both doses.

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

ZAGREB, 29 June, 2021 - In the past 24 hours, 70 coronavirus cases and three deaths have been registered in Croatia, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Tuesday.

There are 418 active cases, including 181 hospitalised patients, 11 of whom are on ventilators, while 3,679 persons are self-isolating.

Croatia has registered 359,736 coronavirus cases to date, including 8,205 deaths and 351,113 recoveries, 74 of which in the past 24 hours.

To date, 2,143,600 persons have been tested for the virus, including 5,506 in the past 24 hours, and 2,545,040 vaccines have been administered, with 1,482,581 persons having received one and 1,062,459 both doses.

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

June the 28th, 2021 - The brand new Zagreb vaccination programme will finally require no sign up, registration or invitation which might risk getting lost somewhere in the process along the way - as has been the case for so many. Want the vaccine? Just turn up.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, at the Andrija Stampar School of Public Health in Zagreb, from Monday, June the 28th to Wednesday, June the 30th, 2021, people will be able to come and be vaccinated against COVID-19 without giving any special notice, the Croatian Institute of Public Health announced.

Citizens of Zagreb, but also people from other parts of Croatia, will be able to be vaccinated against COVID-19 next week without a special invitation or announcement as the new Zagreb vaccination programme gets going.

In addition to the three locations in Zagreb where vaccination will be carried out by the aforementioned Institute, people will be able to receive their first dose of the vaccine from Monday at Rockefellerova ulica 4, organised by the Croatian Institute of Public Health and the Faculty of Medicine, University of Zagreb, from 09:00 to 15:00.

People aged 65 and over and people with chronic diseases will be vaccinated first from 09:00 to 11:00, and then from 11:00 to 13:00 people aged 40 and over can come, from 13:00 to 15:00, those under 40 years of age can come and be vaccinated. The same schedule applies to Tuesday, June the 29th, 2021, while the same Zagreb vaccination programme is scheduled for Wednesday before and after noon.

Turning up to be vaccinated doesn't require any announcements, but the number of people who can be vaccinated in one term is limited to 800 to a maximum of one thousand. The vaccination organiser will distribute vaccination coupons to people that day according to their time of arrival, depending on the level of interest.

''We want to open to citizens as many opportunities up as possible for people to come and get vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to protect ourselves from the infection with the highest possible vaccination rate, but also to prevent its further spread,'' stated doc.dr.sc. Krunoslav Capak, the director of the Croatian Institute of Public Health.

It is necessary to have an identity card and a health insurance card with you upon arrival, because only persons who have HZZO insurance are currently being vaccinated in this way. People are also being asked to wear a mask and to dress lightly, bring water and suitable sun protection with them. People should adjust their arrival to the stated schedule in order to wait less and be vaccinated as soon as possible.

''I believe that we will be able to vaccinate all those citizens who want the vaccine in the planned time, so we'd like to ask them for cooperation and patience,'' Capal said.

Vaccination with the first dose will be done solely with Pfizer.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and select your preferred language.

ZAGREB, 12 June, 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Saturday called on citizens via social networks to get vaccinated, noting that there is a sufficient quantity of vaccines and that it only takes a minute to protect one's life with vaccination and move on towards relaxation of epidemiological restrictions.

"More than 1.4 million people have received at least one vaccine dose, and more than 700,000 have been fully vaccinated. There is a sufficient quantity of vaccines and I call on everyone to get vaccinated. It only takes a minute to protect one's life by getting immunised and that is also the way to relax restrictions and have a safe season," Plenković said in a Twitter post.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Vili Beroš was in Zadar, participating in the vaccination of members of a local basketball team as well as other residents.

In the past 24 hours, Croatia has registered 125 new COVID-19 cases while nine people have died, the national COVID-19 response team said earlier in the day.

There are currently 1,128 active cases in the country.

By 11 June a total of 2,087,157 doses of vaccines were administered. So far 1,401,647 people have received at least one dose while 685,510 have received both shots.

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

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ZAGREB, 9 June, 2021 - In the past 24 hours Croatia has logged 275 new coronavirus cases and seven people have died as a consequence, the national COVID-19 response team reported on Wednesday.

There are 1,330 active cases in the country, including 520 hospitalised patients, 51 of whom are on ventilators.

Croatia has registered 358,061 cases of the novel coronavirus since it was first identified in the county on 25 February 2020 and 8,103 people have died as a consequence. A total of 348,628 people have recovered from the contagion, including 159 in the past 24 hours.

There are currently 6,819 people in self-isolation.

To date a total of 2,060,002 tests have been conducted and of that number, 5,970 were conducted in the past 24 hours.

By 8 June a total of 1,947,784 doses of vaccines have been administered. So far 1,357,103 people have received at least one dose while 590,681 have received both shots.

On 8 June alone, 27,128 shots were administered, the response team said.

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