Health Minister Vili Beros said on Friday representatives of drug wholesalers informed him that as of today they would normalise deliveries to hospitals, adding that talks on settling the debts for delivered medicines were continuing.

Speaking at a press conference of the national COVID-19 response team, Beros reiterated that the 900 million kuna paid last week to cover the debts was a clear sign from the government “that we stand ready to do everything to improve the system’s stability.”

“The talks are not over. There is a meeting with drug wholesalers next week,” he said.

Speaking of the COVID situation, Beros said Croatia was at a turning point given today’s numbers of new cases and deaths and urged citizens to get vaccinated and comply with epidemiological measures.

“Vaccination is the safest and simplest tool to get back to normal,” he said.

Over 60 million people worldwide vaccinated with AstraZeneca

Beros said over 60 million people in the world had received the AstraZeneca vaccine and that the risk was minor, with only dozens of cases with serious side effects.

He said the turnout of 1,500 Zagreb residents for vaccination on Thursday and 1,400 on Friday showed that the process was making progress.

Croatian Institute of Public Health director Krunoslav Capak said there had been 8,338 new coronavirus cases this week and that the average 14-day incidence was 593.3, ranking Croatia 18th in the EU.

Speaking of vaccination, he said tourist workers were a priority.

As for AstraZeneca, Capak said that “at the moment we won’t adopt restrictions in terms of age or sex.” He added that soon it would be possible to vaccinate everyone who wanted to be vaccinated.

The head of the national response team, Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic, said 12 counties had tighter restrictions than those in force nationally but did not rule out the possibility of tightening them on the national level as well.

He said private gatherings were the fastest source of infection but that it would be a violation of human rights if police were to check them.

The national response team supports local teams in proposing COVID measures based on their epidemiological situation, bearing in mind that businesses must stay open, he said, adding that “measures must be focused, notably there where the epidemic is widespread.”