September the 24th, 2020 – The coronavirus pandemic is still holding the planet in its invisible yet devastating grip, and Croatia is busy preparing for the arrival of the dreaded influenza season and battling with the pandemic year.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 23rd of September, 2020, every year, Croatia orders more and more flu vaccines, and this year, which will be marked in memory as the pandemic year, we are waiting for the delivery of a total of 690,000 doses.
”To date, 460,000 doses of the flu vaccine have been ordered for the insured population, with an additional 130,000 of them which are due to arrive around December the 10th. There will also be 100,000 doses intended for pharmacies for sale. It will be sold for 68 kuna in pharmacies (op.a., price from Medoka). Vaccination against influenza starts around or after October the 15th,” Marija Bubas, the assistant director of the Croatian Institute of Public Health told 24sata.
However, this is the first pandemic year in which the flu season will be mixed with the ongoing spread of the new coronavirus, so doctors recommend vaccination to everyone, especially to vulnerable groups. This will at least reduce the range of possible viruses they can contract. As always, it is recommended that chronic patients and the elderly be vaccinated against the flu.
The flu virus can cause a lot of issues for those people who are weaker and have more frequent complications, so when they contract the virus, viral or bacterial pneumonia can occur, which can ultimately mean a fatal outcome – explained the experienced infectologist Maja Capar.
No one is required to be vaccinated against the flu, but it is definitely recommended, especially during this pandemic year.
Capar describes how dangerous the flu can be:
”Although severe complications rarely occur, I remember our fellow nurse who also got encephalitis due to the flu, ie inflammation of the brain and ended up needing treatment in Zagreb. Fortunately, it all ended well and she recovered successfully,” she recalled.
The measures that we must adhere to due to the coronavirus will help prevent both influenza and other viruses, Capar believes.
”These are all droplet infections that mostly spread in the same way. Until now, we’ve never worn masks, we’ve never kept a distance from each other and we’ve never disinfected our hands so regularly, and I believe that will prevent the spread of other viruses, not just the coronavirus,” said Capar. Of the more than half a million doses of influenza vaccine mentioned, Zagreb alone expects a total of 85,000 doses.
The news is that this year, those who buy the vaccine at the pharmacy could be vaccinated immediately at the pharmacy, and not have to go to a doctor to have it done. This is a priority in all European countries because of the need to prevent the spread of the coronavirus infection.
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