Croatia ranks fifth in EU for vaccinations

(Photo: Armin Durgut/PIXSELL)

Health Minister Vili Beroš said on Thursday that more than 20,000 Croatians had been vaccinated against COVID-19 to date during the government's initial phase of the vaccination process.

Domestic Nikola BadovinacJan. 7, 2021, 5:40 p.m.

Nearly 40% of those who have received the shot are doctors and frontline medical personnel dealing the the virus, while the remaining 60% are residents of old-age care homes.

Apart from the continuing decline in the number of hospitalisations and active cases, Beroš said vaccinations would decrease the number of new infections even further.

The Health Minister noted that Croatia will have enough doses of COVID-19 vaccine to meet demand.

"Croatia has made an order for 715,970 initial and 284,030 additional doses. Logistically, the Moderna vaccine is more practical and less demanding, which is why we expect vaccination in the field to be easier. The first shipment for EU member states will begin on January 11. Based on the current distribution, 52,000 doses have been earmarked for Croatia in January and February, and a total of 92,000 doses by the end of March," said Beroš.

In terms of the number of vaccinated persons per 100 inhabitants, Croatia ranks fifth in the European Union, and 12th in the world in terms of the portion of the vaccinated persons in the whole population, said Beroš.

The Director of the Public Health Institute , Krunoslav Capak, said he expected a considerable share of the population to be inoculated by the middle of this year.

Capak added that Croatia has ordered a million doses of the Moderna vaccine, plus 2.7 million doses of the Oxford vaccine, which is expected to be approved by the European Medicines Agency by the end of January.

Croatia registered 562 new coronavirus infections over the last 24 hours, for a positivity rate of 15 %. This is a sharp decline from Wednesday's total of close to 2,000 positive test results.

There are currently 2,284 people receiving treatment in hospital; 200 of whom are on ventilators. The number of active cases stands at 6,272.

Source: HRT