The number of new coronavirus cases in Croatia has increased by 28.8% on a weekly level as steps are being taken to ensure a fairer distribution of vaccines at EU level, the national coronavirus response team told a press conference on Monday.

“In the past week have had 4,566 new cases, with the weekly number of cases increasing by 28.8%. The incidence rate is 198.4, the lowest being in Istria and the highest in the Dubrovnik area,” Croatian Public Health Institute (HZJZ) director Krunoslav Capak said.

Increasing presence of the British variant

The results of sequencing of 355 samples have shown that the British variant of the coronavirus was found in 204 samples, the Czech variant was detected in 45 samples and the South African variant in four. Two people infected with the South African variant were travelling from Mexico to Croatia via Turkey, and two persons have been infected in Croatia.

As for vaccination against COVID-19, Capak said that initial talks had been conducted with a Chinese pharmaceutical company and that more information about the Chinese vaccine and results of clinical studies would be made available in subsequent stages of the talks.

Capak said that Pfizer was expected to deliver 23,000 doses of its vaccine weekly this month, while AstraZeneca was to have delivered a million doses in the first quarter of the year, but failed to do so.

“While other countries ordered the maximum number of doses from manufacturers, we did not and that’s why we have a shortfall. We are taking steps to ensure a fairer distribution or a correction for those who have been short-changed by AstraZeneca,” he said.

As for vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine, the HZJZ estimates that fewer than 30% of people in Croatia have refused this vaccine, contrary to media reports, Capak said.

EU legislation must be complied with in vaccine procurement

Health Minister Vili Beros said that Croatia did not want to close its door to alternative ways of vaccine procurement, including the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine, but stressed that EU legislation must be complied with.

“If EMA (the European Medicines Agency) refuses the Russian vaccine, I doubt that anyone, even HALMED (the Croatian Agency for Medicines and Medicinal Products), will decide otherwise. … We are awaiting EMA’s reply to the letter from our prime minister,” Beros said.

Speaking of problems with the AstraZeneca vaccine, Beros cited a World Health Organisation report saying that over 280 million people across the globe have been administered this vaccine and that there are no indicators suggesting that this vaccine is responsible for severe disorders or deaths.

As for thromboembolic incidents, Beros said that nine patients with thrombosis or pulmonary embolism are hospitalised in Croatia daily and many of them die. “There can be a connection between such cases and vaccination, but it is important that medical professionals set clear criteria in ruling out or confirming the connection between vaccination and an unwanted event.”

Increased vaccine deliveries announced

The head of the national coronavirus response team, Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic, said that all EU member states were dissatisfied with the pace of vaccine delivery, adding that optimistic news was coming from Brussels about resumption of AstraZeneca vaccine deliveries. In addition, Pfizer has increased production of its vaccine, which will improve countries’ vaccine supplies, he added.

Bozinovic dismissed speculation that Croatia would have been better off had it entered into direct negotiations with vaccine manufacturers, bypassing the European Commission. “All member states have authorised the Commission to negotiate, and I think that’s the only right way.”

He said he was confident that the Commission would emerge from this difficult situation with new experience because the health policy was not part of the EU’s integrated policy. It has turned out that only with a common, solidarity-based approach can the EU deal with the pandemic, he noted.

Bozinovic said that the EU was gathering information about the capacity of each member state for vaccine production, stressing the need for investment in public healthcare, science and research.

“The manufacture and delivery of vaccines should be stepped up, and the world should not be taken by surprise by an outbreak of a new pandemic in the future,” Bozinovic said.

Substantial decline in mortality among elderly people after vaccination

The director of Zagreb’s Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Alemka Markotic, underlined the importance of vaccination for elderly people, saying that a substantial decline in COVID-19-related deaths among elderly people after vaccination had been observed across the EU.