More than 275,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been destroyed in Croatia due to expiration or failed donation, and close to two million doses, made by different producers, have been kept in storage, officials of the Croatian Public Health Institute (HZJZ) have said.

A total of 275,799 doses have been destroyed, of which 154,644 were produced by AstraZeneca.

A total of 5.2 million doses have been administered.

Interest in vaccination has been very low in recent weeks, with only about 150 people getting vaccinated with their first dose on a daily basis lately. The new, protein-based vaccine, made with traditional technology and available for the past three weeks, has not helped change the situation.

Some anti-vaxxers had claimed they were waiting for that specific vaccine, however, HZJZ data show that so far only 286 people have been vaccinated with that vaccine, while 153,445 doses are kept in storage.

HZJZ officials say the poor interest is as expected as those who had wanted to get vaccinated were able to choose, for the past year and a half, between four vaccines, made by AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson&Johnson.

The largest amount of unused vaccines, 117,274 doses, was reported by Split-Dalmatia County, which is also the county with the lowest vaccination rate, with only 38.39% of the population having received the second shot.