Croatian Institute of Public Health (HZJZ) director Krunoslav Capak said on Thursday that all COVID vaccination activities were continuing, including with AstraZeneca, and that local elections due in May did not constitute a significant additional risk.

Speaking on the Croatian public broadcaster, he said the rate of refusal of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Croatia varied from town to town and from day to day.

He reiterated that the benefits of that vaccine far outweighed the very rare possibility of blood clotting as a side effect, saying that thromboembolism had not been registered in Croatia to date.

Capak said that of the 2,200 vaccine side effects reported in Croatia, 0.4% were a result of Pfizer’s COVID vaccine and 0.35% of AstraZeneca’s.

He said that if the HZJZ and the Croatian Agency for Medicinal Products noticed any vaccination risks, they would immediately “adopt restrictions and warn citizens.”

Asked about the possibility of tightening COVID restrictions at national level, he said that was now up to local COVID response teams but that they would be tightened nationally “when we conclude that there is a big rise” in new cases at national level.

“Elections don’t bring significant additional risk”

Speaking of May’s local election, Capak said, “We don’t think that elections bring any significant additional risk,” adding that “very strict epidemiological measures will be prescribed” for the collection of signatures, the submission of candidacies, electioneering and election day.

The basic thing is to reduce contacts and mobility, he said.