Government spokesman Marko Milic on Wednesday denied claims by some media outlets that Croatia would expand the use of COVID certificates after 1 November to all hospitality establishments, shopping centres, and in more social activities, calling on everyone in society to promote vaccination.

“Certain media headlines about Croatia introducing mandatory COVID certificates as of 1 November for all hospitality establishments, shopping centres and a larger number of social activities are absolutely incorrect. The government and COVID crisis response team, which adopt measures, have not discussed that,” Milic told the Croatian state news agency Hina.

He underscored that the share of unvaccinated people among the newly infected, hospitalised and those who have died clearly shows that the dynamic of the fourth wave of COVID-19 and its consequences depend primarily on the number of unvaccinated people in Croatia.

“Instead of unnecessarily spreading panic based on false information, everyone in Croatian society should invest additional effort to accelerate the process of vaccination and encourage those who are still hesitant to get vaccinated because that is the only way out of this pandemic,” said Milic.

The national COVID response team today reported that in the past 24 hours Croatia registered 3,162 new cases of coronavirus, which is a significant jump compared to the past two weeks, and 23 people died as a consequence in that period.

As of yesterday, a total of 3,530,290 doses of vaccines have been administered, with 46.20% of the total population or 55.38% of the adult population vaccinated.