Health Minister Vili Beros said on Thursday that at their video meeting on Wednesday EU health ministers had reiterated that the benefits of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine were greater than its potential risks and that for now there were no grounds for suspension of its use.

Some countries have imposed certain restrictions, but most of the member state are in favor of unrestricted use of the vaccine because at this point there is not enough evidence to limit the use of this vaccine, Beros told a cabinet meeting.

He said that some countries use the AstraZeneca vaccine for the inoculation of people older than a certain age. France and Belgium use it for people older than 55 years, other countries use it for those older than 60, while only Finland uses it for people older than 65. Denmark has temporarily suspended its use, he added.

Beros said that an estimated 25 to 35 percent of people in Croatia currently refuse to be inoculated with the AstraZeneca vaccine. “We are concerned about this and are thinking about ways to deal with it. On the other hand, we are glad that there are regions where this is not a problem and where this percentage is much lower,” he said.

“The HZJZ (Croatian Public Health Institute) and HALMED (drug regulator) are closely monitoring the situation with side effects and will continue to assess each suspected case,” Beroš said, adding that this was also the conclusion of yesterday’s informal meeting, which stressed the need for better coordination and sharing of technical data.

“The mortality rate currently stands at 2.2 percent, which means that for every 45 confirmed infections in Croatia there is one death. 6,185 deaths since the outbreak of the pandemic is a very high number and cannot be compared to very small numbers of side effects,” the health minister said.

“We must be flexible and protect the nation in the best possible way. We must adapt. If an elderly person refuses to get vaccinated, we will adapt to the situation. We should vaccinate as many people as possible,” he added.

Beros also said that the government had stepped up work to settle the debt towards drug wholesalers so that patients would not be left without medicines.