Zagreb has established contacts with the Russian health authorities and some documentation about the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against Covid has been sent to Croatia, Health Minister Vili Beros said on Sunday evening.

“We continue to be oriented to the joint procurement mechanism of the European Commission and we believe that the circumstances will improve. The latest announcements from vaccine producers about increasing vaccine doses are conducive to that,” Beros told the Croatian public broadcaster, HRT.

However, he added, “if things do not evolve in such a way, we will also have to turn to some other producers. Croatia has made some contact with the Russian health authorities and we have received certain documentation.”

Croatia will also wait for the EC’s decision to take into consideration Zagreb’s proposal for corrective mechanisms to balance the delivery of vaccines across the EU, he said.

“The duty of this government is to provide citizens with safe, high-quality and efficient vaccine. When we are sure that some vaccine meets those requirements, then this can pave the way for the administering of those jabs,”  Beros said.

Vaccine manufacturers promise quantities they cannot deliver

Asked whether the European Commission failed the test of timely and comprehensive protection of all citizens in the Union, Beros said that he could agree with this statement only partly.

“Producers are to be blamed as they promised the amounts which they obviously cannot now provide,” he said.

Asked about more and more people refusing to be inoculated with AstraZeneca jabs against COVID-19 after some started claiming that there was a link between that vaccine and an increased risk of blood clots, Beros said that scientific evaluation was important.

In Croatia, annually about 1,000 patients are admitted to hospitals due to blod clotting and embolism, he added.

An additional 2,200 are annually hospitalised due to pulmonary embolism, which is together 3,200, or nine hospitalised patients per day due to such disorders, Beros said, adding that death outcome happens in some of those cases.

Taking into account the number of inoculated people, one can expect thromboembolic events. It is important that those who administer shots as well as the HALMED (drugs regulators) and the Croatian Institute of Public Health (HZJZ) are aware of side-effects, the minister said.