Speaking at a cabinet meeting, he said that this morning he spoke with representatives of pensioner unions and associations which demand that people over 65 are not given the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Plenković told the public, notably older people, that all three COVID vaccines, Pfizer’s, Moderna’s and AstraZeneca’s, “are 100% effective against death, against situations on ventilators and more serious symptoms.”
He said that according to the information at the government’s disposal, there were no obstacles to people over 65 receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine.
“We believe that in these circumstances as many people as possible whose health is at risk, whose health is fragile, who are older, to whom coronavirus can cause major health damage in a short time, should be vaccinated.”
Plenković said additional studies and trials would confirm that the AstraZeneca vaccine was equally effective in reducing the number of COVID deaths in Croatia.
The number of new infections keeps falling
Speaking of the epidemic, he said the decrease in new infections was continuing, as confirmed by this week’s numbers.
Today Croatia is third in the EU by the weekly average of confirmed cases per million inhabitants and has the fifth largest two-week decrease in COVID deaths, he added.
“We are in the winter months and a strong cold wave has been announced, the British virus strain has been identified, so many European countries, which have much stricter measures, are extending or further restricting them.”
Plenković said there were indications that vaccine deliveries would step up and that greater quantities could be expected by the end of March.
Croatia has received about 150,000 doses, another 600,000 are expected by the end of March, so it will be possible to vaccinate a markedly larger number of people, he added.
It is important that the Health Ministry, the Croatian Institute of Public Health, hospitals and general practitioners ensure mass vaccination, he said.
