A total of 657,385 Covid-19 vaccine doses have arrived in Croatia to date and 533,409 have been administered, and the first 7,150 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will arrive on 14 April, Health Minister Vili Beros said at a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

The Croatian Agency for Medicinal Products and Medical Devices has received 2,260 reports of suspected side-effects and they are being processed.

“In April alone we should receive 428,628 doses, which do not include the additional 747,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine which we should receive in the second quarter,” Beros said.

Older people are still being vaccinated and recommendations are ready for the vaccination of younger people, he said. About 800,000 people in various target groups will be vaccinated in a short time, he added.

The minister said hospitals were gradually increasing the number of beds for Covid patients.

“We are continuing to register increases in the number of new cases, the number of those hospitalised and on ventilators which, together with the lower average age of patients, is cause for concern. The situation in hospitals is increasingly demanding, 1,369 persons have been hospitalised in a week. The rise in the number of hospitalised patients in the past month is over 120 percent,” Beros said.

He called on everyone to be vaccinated and to behave responsibly.