Vaccination against coronavirus begins on December 27, it will be voluntary, the vaccine will be free, and 5,905,000 doses have been ensured, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Wednesday, adding that he expected at least 70% of the population to be inoculated.

The safety and efficacy of the vaccine is based on the results of controlled clinical trials, he said at a press conference, presenting a coronavirus vaccination plan which the government adopted today.

The vaccine will be evenly distributed and available in all counties on the principle of justice, solidarity and necessary care for the neediest in terms of age and job infection risk as well as the risk of a more serious form of the disease and complications.

We want as many people to be vaccinated as possible, Plenkovic said, adding that the success of the vaccination plan depended on how many people would want to be vaccinated.

Experts says that we will be protected as a society if 70% of the population is vaccinated. Our aim is for a minimum 70% of our population to be vaccinated. That will certainly reduce the pandemic which has claimed many lives in Croatia and the world, he said.

To raise public awareness of the need to get vaccinated, the Croatian Institute of Public Health has designed a campaign with the key message “Think of others: get vaccinated!”, emphasising the social responsibility which all people must show.

The arrival of the vaccine gives us hope that life will go back to normal next year, Plenkovic said, adding that this pandemic had resulted in an unprecedented social crisis on the global scale.